P ANASUYA NAIDU Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) The petitioner had applied for and was selected as a pre-primary teacher for which the required qualification was B.A/B.Sc., B.Ed. preferably in nursery tainting. Admittedly, the petitioner had not obtained the Bachelor of Education degree but had obtained a certificate of Shiksha Visharad in the year 1989 from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad, which was said to be recognized. She was selected and was issued an appointment order and accordingly she joined sometime in July, 2000. However, vide letter dated 3-8-2001, the petitioner was informed that as she had not submitted her professional qualification certificate of B.Ed, recognized by University Grants Commission (UGC) or Montessory Diploma recognized by Govt of India/ State Government, her services will not be required w.e.f. 1-8-2001 and the period intervening was to be treated as one month's notice. Accordingly, her services were dispensed with and her appointment was revoked. Aggrieved with the action of revocation of her appointment, the petitioner approached this Court for relief, That the petitioner does not possess the B.Ed, qualification nor a diploma recognized by University Grants Commission or a Montessory Diploma recognized by the Government of India/State Government is not disputed. However, reliance is placed on a letter dated 23-5-1988 of the Central Board of Secondary Education, in short the CBSE, that as per the handbook for Personal Officers, Govt. of India, Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Prayag, Allahabad is recognized and as such, a person possessing a B.Ed. Degree from Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Prayag, Allahabad, is to be treated as a trained teacher. Annexure P-5 to the writ petition is a copy of the advertisement issued by Hindi Sahitya Sammelan Prayag, Allahabad, which in fact is an information regarding the examination conducted by it. With regard to the Shiksha Visharad, it is indicated that it is a one-year course and the eligibility for the course is Madhyamik or Graduate or equivalent degree thereto. If further indicates that it is recognized by Government of Orissa as equivalent to BTC and a trained teacher for the CBSE, However, there is nothing on record to indicate that the examinations conducted by the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Allahabad are recognized by the State of Chhattisgarh.

(2.) In reply, attention of the Court is invited to the extracts of the minutes of the meeting of the Affiliation Committee of CBSE held on 15th September, 1995, where the question of considering equivalence of Shiksha Visharad Degree as equivalent to B.Ed. Degree of other recognized Universities was taken up for consideration. The agenda and the resolution read thus:--

(3.) Thus, the letter dated 23-5-1988 on which reliance is placed by the petitioner having been withdrawn, the very foundation of which her case rests, disappears. Thus, the contention that, having obtained the degree of Shiksha Visharad from the Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, Prayag, Allahabad, she should be treated to be a trained teacher, cannot be accepted. It was then contended that as the petitioner had admittedly obtained the degree of Shiksha Visharad, the Court should issue a direction for treating it to be equivalent to B.Ed. Degree. Such a direction cannot obviously be issued in view of the fact that to treat or not to treat a particular degree or certificate of a body as equivalent to that of another, is a matter to be decided by the Academic Bodies and not by Courts of law as that question, the Court feels, is purely within the jurisdiction of the Academic Bodies. A more or less a similar question had recently come up before the Apex Court in the case of State of Rajasthan v. Lata Arun, 2002 AIR SCW 2966. In that case the provisional admission of the respondent to the General Nursing and Midwifery and Staff Nurse Course was cancelled on the ground that she did not possess the requisite qualification which was first year of Three Years Decree Course (TDC) or 10-4-2. The respondent had, however, obtained a Madhyama Certificate from the Hindi Sahitya Sammclan, Prayag. The writ petition filed before the Rajasthan High Court was disposed of with a direction to the Nursing Council to consider the matter sympathetically by taking into consideration the equivalence of course. Allowing the appeal of the State of Rajasthan, the Court observed thus :--