In a writ petition, petitioner challenged University of Delhi's selection criteria for Assistant Professor post in Faculty of Law, arguing exclusion of advocates' experience violated Article 14. Court upheld criteria, refusing to substitute employer's judgment on eligibility.
Petitioner's writ petition for quashing the selection process was dismissed.
This page shows the compact analysis of this judgement. The full analysis — procedural history, issue-by-issue holdings with ratio and obiter, advocates, and paragraph-level evidence for every claim — is being added to the record in batches and will appear here when this judgement has been through it.
KANIKA SANWAL ..... Petitioner Through: Mr. Anuj Bhandari, Advocate with Mr. Naveen Kumar Gautam, Advocate. versus UNIVERSITY OF DELHI ..... Respondent Through: Mr. Abhinav Sharma, Advocate. CORAM: HON’BLE MR. JUSTICE VALMIKI J.MEHTA
To be referred to the Reporter or not? YES
VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J (ORAL)
W.P.(C) No.2219/2017 Page 1 of 5
experience as an Advocate is not being given weightage, and therefore,
because of the latter aspect the selection process is arbitrary and hit by
Article 14 of the Constitution of India.
Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law read as under:-
“ASSISTANT PROFESSOR:
For Faculties of Applied Social Sciences & Humanities; Arts, Commerce and Business; Inter-disciplinary and Applied Sciences (except Physical Education); Law; Mathematical Sciences; Sciences (except Home Science, Nursing, Physiotherapy, Occupational Therapy, and Pharmacy); and Social Sciences.
(underlining added)
given by ascribing marks with respect to educational qualifications as
also post Ph.D research or teaching experience in terms of the
following guidelines:-
“For the post of Assistant Professor, the criteria for evaluation of the candidates for determining their eligibility for shortlisting shall be based on a 100 point scale. The distribution of points will be as follows: (I) Academic Qualifications for University Departments-Maximum 47 points
| S. No. | Examination | Category | Category |
|---|---|---|---|
| I(> 60%) |
II(> 50% but <60%) |
||
| 1. | Under-Graduate | 10 | 7 |
| 2. | LL.B. | 15 | 11 |
W.P.(C) No.2219/2017 Page 2 of 5
| 3. | LL.M. | 5* (55% eligibility) |
|---|---|---|
| 4. | Ph.D. | 17* |
| 5. | NET/NET-JRF | 3/5 |
(For the purpose of minimum qualifications for consideration for the post of Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Law, the term “Master’s Degree level in a relevant subject from an Indian University or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university” will imply the degree of “LL. M.”
In case of Integrated course/programme, the points shall be awarded for both the degrees covered under the course/programme as per the entitlement above.
xxxxx
Post-Ph.D. Research experience/Teaching experience to be claimed for appointment (the period required to acquire LL.M and/or the residency period to acquire Ph.D. degree shall not be considered as teaching experience)
| Ma | ximum 20 Points for University Dep | artments | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. 2. |
Post-Ph.D. research experience as post-doctoral fellow/Research Associate/Research Scientist etc. in recognized University/Institution in India or abroad Teaching experience (as full-time ad hoc, temporary or permanent) in recognized University/College/institution |
1 point for every 4 months OR 4 points for every 1 year 1 point for every 4 months OR 4 points for every 1 year. |
Maximum 20 points |
| Total Teach |
points: Academic qualifications + P ing/Post Ph.D. research experience |
ublications+ | Maximum 100 points |
not substitute its decision to that of the recruiting authority as to what should be the eligibility criteria and the preferable additional qualifications giving weightage for appointment of a person to a post,
being the post of Assistant Professor in the present case. Surely, the
W.P.(C) No.2219/2017 Page 3 of 5
authority and employer who seeks to appoint persons would ordinarily be the best judges of the eligibility criteria as also additional qualifications for a person to be appointed to a post and this Court will not ordinarily interfere with such criteria fixed and weightage fixed unless there is an ex facie arbitrariness.
W.P.(C) No.2219/2017 Page 4 of 5
the minimum eligibility criteria. Once the University/employer is entitled to fix and decide what is the good academic record which a candidate must have for appointment, there is hence no illegality in the University/employer fixing the criteria for selection and giving weightage of 20 points to post Ph.D research or in the alternative teaching experience.
MARCH 10, 2017/ Ne
VALMIKI J. MEHTA, J
W.P.(C) No.2219/2017 Page 5 of 5
2 issues framed by the court
Whether the selection criteria excluding advocates' experience violates Article 14.
Whether the University can fix eligibility criteria and weightage for Assistant Professor appointments.
KANIKA SANWAL
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI
VALMIKI J MEHTA
As recorded by the court registry
A petition under Article 226 of the Constitution asking a High Court to issue a writ against the State or a public authority in a civil matter.
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
