MP HC Rejects 2022 Exclusion Of Applied Microbiology And Biotechnology Degrees From Botany Professor Posts, Citing 2017 And 2025 Acceptance

The petitioners held M.Sc. degrees in Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology from Dr. Harisingh Gour Central University, Banaras Hindu University or Banasthali Vidyapith.

Their candidatures for Assistant Professor (Botany) under the 2022 recruitment were cancelled on the ground that their postgraduate qualification was not in a relevant or allied subject.

The 2022 notification listed Microbiology and Biotechnology among Botany’s allied subjects, but did not expressly list Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology.

The petitioners relied on the treatment of the qualification in the 2017 recruitment and on a 2026 amendment recognising it for the 2025 recruitment.

They also produced university certifications stating that the relevant courses were equivalent to M.Sc. Microbiology.

The Court confined its decision to petitioners who remained in the competition; certain petitioners had already been dismissed for failing to qualify, while two successful petitioners’ results were in sealed cover pending a reservation dispute.

Article 14 prohibits classifications that lack a rational basis and nexus with the objective sought to be achieved; the Court relied on State of J&K v. Triloki Nath Khosa, (1974) 1 SCC 19, for that principle.

The State, as employer, may prescribe educational qualifications, and academic equivalence is ordinarily a matter for experts; however, the Court relied on Anand Yadav v. State of U.P., (2021) 12 SCC 390, concerning the role of expert bodies and the employer in determining equivalence, rather than treating the issue as one for judicial re-evaluation of academic merits.

The Court also referred to Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956, concerning the authority of universities to confer degrees.

The State relied on a committee constituted in December 2022, but did not produce its minutes or material showing how the committee assessed the relevant course structures; the record indicated only one Botany expert and did not establish that the universities’ curricula had been considered.

By contrast, the universities had certified that the Applied Microbiology courses were equivalent to Microbiology in curriculum and structure.

The State later added Applied Microbiology and Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology to the allied-subject list and applied the amendment to the 2025 recruitment, while leaving the 2022 recruitment unaffected.

As the State identified no relevant change in the courses or rational basis for treating the same qualification differently across recruitment years, the Court held that the exclusion in 2022 was arbitrary and discriminatory.

It set aside the impugned communications dated 6 May 2025 and 2 June 2025 and allowed the petitions for the remaining petitioners.

The petitioners’ results were to be given effect; if a less-meritorious candidate in the relevant category had been appointed, appointment orders were to issue in favour of the petitioners.

They were also entitled to notional seniority from the date their counterparts were appointed, but not to financial benefits for the intervening period.