Chhattisgarh HC Upholds Rejection Of Clinical Psychology MSc Holder’s Candidature For Assistant Professor (Psychology) Post Requiring MA Psychology

The University advertised a post of Assistant Professor (Psychology), prescribing an M.A. in Psychology as the required qualification.

The petitioner, who held an M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology, applied for the post. The University rejected her candidature because she did not hold the prescribed degree.

She challenged that rejection, contending that Clinical Psychology was an allied subject within Psychology and seeking reconsideration of her eligibility

The Court relied on *Zahoor Ahmad Rather v. Sheikh Imtiyaz Ahmad*, (2019) 2 SCC 404, which holds that prescribing qualifications is a matter of recruitment policy; courts cannot expand prescribed eligibility requirements or determine equivalence between qualifications in judicial review.

A higher or allied qualification does not automatically satisfy a prescribed qualification absent a rule providing for such equivalence

The advertisement expressly required an M.A. in Psychology, while the petitioner held an M.Sc. in Clinical Psychology.

The Court held that describing Clinical Psychology as an allied subject did not establish that the petitioner’s degree fulfilled the specific eligibility criterion. Applying *Zahoor Ahmad Rather*, it declined to treat the degrees as equivalent or enlarge the advertised qualification and found no basis to characterise the University’s decision as illegal or arbitrary

It held that she had not established that her qualification met the advertised requirement and dismissed the writ petition