Letters Patent Appeal challenging a Single Judge's refusal to treat a wife as a 'Ward of a serving employee' for a supernumerary Ph.D. seat without entrance test and concessional fee. The Division Bench upheld the University's Executive Council decision that only children qualify as 'Wards' and dismissed the appeal.
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.
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2025:HHC:38120 IN THE HIGH COURT OF HIMACHAL PRADESH SHIMLA
LPA No. 494 of 2025 Date of decision: 12.11.2025.
__________________________________________________________ Sukriti Sood & another …..Appellants Versus
Himachal Pradesh University & others
...Respondents
________________________________________________________ Coram:
The Hon’ble Mr. Justice G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice. The Hon’ble Mr. Justice Jiya Lal Bhardwaj, Judge.
Whether approved for reporting?1
__________________________________________________________ For the Appellants: Mr. Neeraj Sharma, Senior Advocate with Mr. Happy Thakur, Advocate.
For the Respondents: Ms. Archana Dutt, Advocate.
G.S. Sandhawalia, Chief Justice (Oral)
Challenge in the present Letters Patent Appeal is to the judgment of the learned Single Judge passed in CWP No. 2890 of 2024, titled as Sukriti Sood and another Vs. Himachal Pradesh
University & another, dated 05.05.2025.
1 Whether the reporters of Local Papers may be allowed to see the judgment?
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the present appellant No. 1 while seeking admission in the Ph.D Programme in the subject of Chemistry. The case of petitioner No. 1 had been considered and she was declared as ineligible way back on 26.08.2022 (Annexure R-5) for the academic session 2022-2023. Thereafter, the matter was also placed at Item No. 4 before the Standing Committee of the University on 15.11.2022 (Annexure R-7). The Standing Committee also came to same conclusion. The relevant portion of the proceedings of the meeting of the Standing Committee of Academic Council held on 15.11.2022 reads as under:-
“Item No. 4: To be placed before the Deans Committee/Standing Committee of Academic Council matter regarding the admission in Ph.D programme against supernumerary seat under the category wards of H.P. University working employees for approval of Department Council decision & further necessary direction, if any.
Decision : The decision taken by the Department Council vide item no. 1 in its meeting held on 14-11-2022 was placed before the Standing Committee of Academic
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Council for discussion and this matter has been discussed in detail and the committee was fully agreed with the decision of the Department Council and after discussion it has been decided by the Committee to reject the proposal of the concerned candidate.”
“ With reference to your representations dated 28-04-2023, 11-05-2023 & 12-05-2023 on the
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subject cited above, I am to inform you that the matter was placed before the Executive Council, competent authority of the University and the Executive Council vide on spot item No. 7 of its meeting held on 26-12-2023 has decided as under:-
"The Council decided that under the category of "Ward" benefit can only be extended to the children of employees of the HP University. Spouse will not be considered under the category of "Ward".
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“The Executive Council vide on Spot Discussion-I, in its meeting held on 21.08.2021 decided as under:-
The Executive Council approved one time payment/remittance of fee of Rs.1,00,000/(Rupees One Lac only) in respect of the wards of university working Employees (Teaching/Non-Teaching) for pursuing Ph.D. degree against supernumerary seats. The council further approved the admission in Ph.D. course in respect of the Wards of University working Employees with the regular admission schedule without entrance test with immediate effect. However, Dr.Anil Kumar Jaryal, Member of executive Council expressed his dissent.
After detailed deliberations the Council also decided that one supernumerary each in all Ph.D. courses be reserved for Assistant Professors of the University and College Teachers.”
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taken a decision that only the children as such are to be granted the benefit of concession dehors the test and on concessional rates, it cannot be said that the writ petitioner No. 1/appellant jNo. 1 herein, would be having justified as such to seek the benefit being spouse as such and to expand the meaning as such of the term “Ward”. In case, the University wanted to give the benefit as such, it could have granted the same to the spouse of the employees as per the decision dated 28.08.2021 also, when one supernumerary seat was also reserved for the Assistant Professors of the University and College Teachers.
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Council. Accordingly, we do not find any plausible reason as such to take a different view.
Pending application(s), if any, also stands disposed of.
(G.S. Sandhawalia) Chief Justice.
November 12, 2025 (Jiya Lal Bhardwaj) (hemlata) Judge.
1 issue framed by the court
Whether the spouse of a serving University employee qualifies as a 'Ward' entitled to supernumerary Ph.D. admission without entrance test and on concessional fee.
Sukriti Sood & another
Himachal Pradesh University & others
G.S. Sandhawalia
Jiya Lal Bhardwaj
As recorded by the court registry
Judgements on the same questions, provisions and authorities, from every court
