Jasbir Singh, J. - (1.) IN response to order dated 07.02.2014, the State has filed affidavit, which is taken on record. This order shall dispose of eight writ petitions i.e. CWP Nos. 2386, 2821, 2835, 2838, 2944, 2947, 2679, 2657 of 2014. However, the facts are being taken from CWP No. 2386 of 2014. By filing this writ petition, petitioner has laid challenge to notification dated 03.09.2013 (P -3) making amendment in Haryana Education (College Cadre) Group B Service Rules 1986 whereby in Appendix B, under columns 3 and 4 after serial No. 9 in note 1 for item (c), the following qualification shall be substituted:
(2.) IT is grievance of the petitioner that despite relaxation of not passing eligibility test granted by the University Grants Commission (for short the Commission') under the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (for short 'the Act') for those who have Ph.D. degrees to their credit, the contrary eligibility condition of passing eligibility test has been laid down by the above said notification. Further challenge has been made to the advertisement inviting applications for the post of Lecturers in various subjects issued on 24.01.2014 in which besides other conditions, passing of eligibility test is one of the criteria. As per above advertisement for the post of Assistant Professor in all subjects, good academic record with at least 55% of the marks or an equivalent grade of B in the 7 point scale with letter grades O, A, B, C, D, E and F at the Master's Degree level is necessary qualification in the relevant subjects. The knowledge of Hindi/Sanskrit upto Matric standard is also necessary. Besides the conditions for entry in service as above, it is provided that National Eligibility Test (NET) and State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) shall remain minimum eligibility condition for recruitment and appointment for the post of Assistant Professors in Colleges. Proviso states that NET/SLET shall not be required for such Master Programme in the subject for which the NET or SLET is not conducted. It is stated by the petitioners that the above eligibility condition runs contrary to norms fixed by the Commission to be eligible for the post in question. To say so, reference has been made to Regulation 4.4.0 of the UGC Regulation On Minimum Qualification for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in the Universities and Colleges and Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2010. In those Regulations, following qualification has been provided for the post of Assistant Professor: "4.4.0 Assistant Professor
(3.) 4.1 Arts, Humanities, Science, Social Sciences, Commerce, Education, Languages, Law, Journalism and Mass Communication. i. Good academic record as defined by the concerned university with at least 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point scale wherever grading system is followed) at the Master's Degree level in a relevant subject from an Indian University, or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university. ii. Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by the UGC, CSIR or similar test accredited by the UGC like SLET/SET. iii. Notwithstanding anything contained in sub clauses (i) and (ii) to this clause 4.4.1 candidates, who are, or have been awarded a Ph.D. Degree in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2009 shall be exempted from the requirement of the minimum eligibility condition of NET/SLET/SET for recruitment and appointment of Assistant Professor or equivalent positions in Universities/Colleges/Institutions. iv. NET/SLET/SET shall also not be required for such Masters Programmes in discipline for which NET/SLET/is not conducted." 4. In the above said Regulations, it is provided that necessary qualification of passing the eligibility test is not mandatory in the case of those who have Ph.D. degree to their credit and they shall be exempted from passing the eligibility test.;