Case Note & Summary
The Writ Petition No. 5336 of 2012 was filed before the High Court of Judicature at Bombay, Bench at Aurangabad, by three lecturers—Ram Raosaheb Phawade (History), Shivaji Pundlikrao Shinde (Marathi), and Shrimant Vaijnath Bhalke (Sociology)—against the State of Maharashtra, the Joint Director of Higher Education, Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, the management of Vivek Vardhini Mahavidyalaya, Deoni, and the University Grants Commission. The petitioners challenged two communications dated 10 May 2010 and 30 September 2010 issued by the university, which refused to grant permanent approval to their services, and sought a direction for permanent approval. The dispute arose from the petitioners’ appointments as lecturers in the respondent no. 5 college. They were initially selected through a selection committee constituted by the college and management in 2001 and later through a duly constituted university selection committee in 2003-04. They were granted temporary approval on a clockwise basis and subsequently on a contractual basis for two-year periods starting from 2006, pursuant to State policies introduced through Government Resolutions dated 31 May 2005 and 6 July 2007. The contractual appointments were linked to the pending issue of NET/SET qualification requirements before the UGC. All three petitioners acquired M.Phil degrees in the year 2009 while they were in continuous service in the college. In January 2010, the college management submitted a proposal for permanent approval, citing the petitioners’ M.Phil qualifications. The university, however, denied the request, asserting that the petitioners had acquired the M.Phil qualification after the completion of their contractual approval period. The petitioners contended that the refusal was illegal and contrary to the university’s own policy and the State’s policy, which intended to grant permanency to lecturers who obtained M.Phil while in service. They argued that the UGC’s 3rd Amendment Regulation 2009 exempted M.Phil holders from the NET/SET requirement for undergraduate teaching, provided the degree was completed by 11 July 2009, which the petitioners had done. They relied upon a Division Bench order of the Bombay High Court in Writ Petition No. 6929 of 2009, dated 18 November 2009, which protected the services of lecturers appointed under the 2006 UGC regulations and held that those who completed M.Phil by 11 July 2009 while in service were exempt from NET/SET. The matter was heard finally on 14 October 2015 and reserved for judgment. The court’s pronouncement was delivered on 29 October 2015, but the available excerpt does not include the final decision or the court’s reasoning on the merits. Thus, the ultimate outcome regarding the grant of permanent approval and the validity of the university’s refusal remains unrecorded in the provided text.
Issue of Consideration
Whether the university's refusal to grant permanent approval to the petitioners, who acquired M.Phil qualification while in service after the contractual approval period, is legally sustainable; and whether the petitioners are entitled to exemption from NET/SET under the UGC 3rd Amendment Regulation 2009.
Law Points
- Lecturers possessing M.Phil degree by the cut-off date of 11/07/2009 while in service are exempt from NET/SET for undergraduate teaching
- Lecturers appointed under the 2006 UGC amended regulations are entitled to protection
- University cannot refuse permanent approval solely on the ground that M.Phil was acquired after the contractual approval period if the acquisition was during continuous service.
