Expert Recommendation Final Authority in Technical Education, Court Interference Imprudent: Rajasthan HC
12.10.2021 | Education News | EduLegaL | www.edulegal.org | mail@edulegal.in
The High Court of Rajasthan in Sunita Saini Daughter of Shri Babu … vs State of Rajasthan held that where the question is related to technical education the decision of the Government is based on the recommendation of an expert body in which the court cannot interfere.
Single Bench comprising of Justice Inderjeet Singh held
This writ petition filed by the petitioners deserve to be dismissed for the reasons; firstly, admittedly, the petitioners are not having the requisite qualification/equivalent degree as per the report submitted by the expert committee; secondly the respondent No.4 is having the required degree of M.Sc. (Agriculture) as has been held by the Expert Committee.
The petitioners pursuant to an advertisement issued by the Education Department, State of Rajasthan dated 13.04.2018 applied for the post of lecturer; the desired qualification mentioned for the post was Bachelor in Education (B.Ed.) and Master’s Degree in Biology or any equivalent degree. The petitioners participated in the selection process where they were rejected on the grounds of ineligibility owing to lack of requisite qualification. Aggrieved the petitioners approached the court through a writ.
The petitioner further claimed that respondent no.4’s qualification had been considered by respondent no.1 as equivalent to the M.Sc. (Agriculture), whereas the qualification of the petitioner was rejected, therefore, prayed for cancellation of selection of respondent No.4.
The counsel of the respondent submitted that the advertisement mentioned that for the post the qualification must be Master’s in Science (M.Sc.) or equivalent. Further the respondent stated that as per the State Government constituted the expert committee and the expert committee in its meeting dated 06.04.2021 has held that the qualification of Genetics and Plant Breeding in the Post-Graduation is equivalent to M.Sc. (Agriculture), thus, respondent no. 4 with the said qualification was duly appointed.
The Court stated:
Equivalence of educational qualifications is a technical question based on proper assessment and evaluation of the relevant academic standards and practical attainments of such qualifications and where the decision of the Government is based on the recommendation of an expert body which possesses the requisite knowledge, skill and expertise for adequately discharging such a function, the Court, uninformed of relevant data and unaided by the technical insights necessary for the purpose of determining equivalence, would not lightly disturb the decision of the Government.
The bench dismissed the petition on the ground that the question involved requires expert advice and according to the expert advice, the petitioner is not eligible.
Rasmita Behera | Research Intern | EduLegaL
Swapna Iyer | Legal Editor | EduLegaL
