Bombay High Court Quashed the Cancellation of Appointment Due to Distance Education MBA Degree – Appointment Order Stands Restored. Reinstatement of Appointment Order Dated 27th April, 2017 – Cancellation Letter Dated 12th December, 2017 Set Aside – Bank Directed to Permit Joining Within 30 Days

Case Note & Summary

Constitution of India, 1950 – Article 226 – Writ Jurisdiction – Judicial Review – Employer’s Discretion on Qualifications – Court’s Power to Intervene in Cases of Arbitrary Action (Para 8, 9, 19)

Union Bank of India (Human Resource Department) Revised Policy, 2016 – Clause 17.2.2 – Required Qualifications for Marketing Officer Scale-I – Absence of Full-Time MBA Requirement – Equivalence of Distance Education MBA Recognized by University Grants Commission (Para 17, 18)

University Grants Commission (UGC) Notification Dated 14th October, 2013 – Equivalence of Degrees from Open and Distance Learning Institutions – Two-Year Distance MBA Degree Recognized as Equivalent to Full-Time MBA (Para 10, 11)

Service Law – Recruitment Process – Cancellation of Appointment Without Notice – Violation of Principles of Natural Justice – Requirement of Fair Hearing Prior to Cancellation of Appointment (Para 8)

Precedents – Judicial Decisions on Employer’s Discretion in Qualification Standards – Shankarsan Dash v. Union of India, 1991 AIR 1612 – Dipa Keda Aher v. Bank of Maharashtra, WP No.2034 of 2021 – Vineet Kumar v. Union Bank of India, WP(L) No.26020 of 2022 (Para 6, 7)

Reinstatement and Joining – Direction to Bank to Permit the Petitioner’s Joining Within 30 Days – Appointment Restored as a Fresh Appointment (Para 19)

Issues:

Whether the Union Bank of India’s requirement for a full-time MBA Degree was explicitly stated in the 2017 advertisement? (Para 9, 12, 13)

Whether a two-year Distance Education MBA Degree from a UGC-recognized university is equivalent to a full-time MBA Degree? (Para 10, 11)

Decision:

The cancellation of the appointment order dated 27th April, 2017 was set aside, and the appointment was restored. (Para 19)

The Bank’s 2017 advertisement did not explicitly mandate a full-time MBA Degree. (Para 12, 13)

The two-year Distance MBA Degree from Sikkim Manipal University is recognized as equivalent to a full-time MBA Degree by UGC. (Para 10, 11)

The Bank was directed to allow the Petitioner to join within 30 days, treated as a fresh appointment. (Para 19)

Subjects:

Judicial Review – Recruitment Policy – Distance Education – UGC Recognition – Natural Justice – Appointment Cancellation – Service Law – Equivalence of Qualifications – Reinstatement – Fresh Appointment