PRAMOD P. Vs. UNION OF INDIA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Since the issues canvassed, projected and impelled in these matters are common, I have heard them together and propose to dispose them of through this judgment.

(2.) The constitutive issue involved is whether there is any conflict between the Government of India Order (hereinafter referred to as "GOI Pay Scale Order"), accepting the recommendations of the Pay Review Committee (PRC) of the University Grants Commission (UGC) with respect to the pay scales of teachers and equivalent cadres in Universities and Colleges, on the one hand; and between the "UGC Regulations on minimum qualifications for appointment of teachers and other academic staff in Universities and Colleges and measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as the "UGC Regulations, 2018"), on the other.

(3.) This question has arisen because it is admitted that the Government of Kerala adopted both these orders and Regulations respectively, through valid proceedings; but then, while adopting the 'UGC Regulations 2018', through order dtd. 29/9/2019, it introduced a caveat that, in the event of any conflict between the provisions of the said Regulations and the order of the Government of Kerala adopting the 'GOI Pay Scale Order', the latter would prevail.