Himachal High Court quashes appointment of assistant professor over change in eligibility criteria

Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], September 2 (ANI): The Himachal Pradesh High Court has set aside the appointment of an Assistant Professor in Agricultural Biotechnology at Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, holding that the selection committee had no authority to alter the essential qualifications prescribed in the recruitment advertisement.
Justice Sandeep Sharma, delivering a common judgment on two petitions filed by Pankaj Kumar Singh and Sunny Choudhary, ruled that the committee acted beyond its powers by allowing candidates without the advertised qualification M.Sc. in Agricultural Biotechnology to participate on the basis of equivalence certificates for M.Sc. Biotechnology.
The court observed that the March 2019 advertisement had not mentioned any provision for "equivalent qualification," and therefore, the selection body could not invite such certificates mid-selection. "The Selection Committee, without there being any authority from the University, could not have altered the eligibility criteria," the judge said, adding that such changes "midstream" violated the rule of law and fairness in recruitment.
The petitions challenged the appointment of two candidates, including the selected appointee, on the grounds that they did not possess the prescribed degree. The court found that the equivalence certificates, issued by a university registrar rather than a duly constituted expert committee, lacked validity.
Relying on Supreme Court precedents, the judge held that while courts ordinarily defer to academic experts, they can intervene where there is "illegality or patent material irregularity" in the process. The court directed the university to offer the appointment to the eligible candidate next in merit, in accordance with the law.
The ruling underscores that prescribed qualifications in recruitment advertisements cannot be changed during the selection process unless expressly provided for, and any relaxation or equivalence must be determined by a competent expert body before the process begins. (ANI)