Dr. Sridip Chatterjee v. Dr. Gopa Chakraborty & Ors.
Background
Dr. Sridip Chatterjee was selected and appointed as Assistant Professor in Physical Education (Yoga Therapy) at Jadavpur University, but a rival candidate challenged his appointment, arguing he lacked the specific "Post Graduate Diploma in Yoga/Yoga Therapy" required by the advertisement, holding instead a "Diploma in Yoga Education." The Calcutta High Court's Single Judge and then a Division Bench both set aside his appointment, holding the University had not properly established that his diploma was equivalent to the advertised qualification.
Decision Breakdown
The Supreme Court reversed the High Court and upheld the appointment, reinstating Dr. Chatterjee with full consequential benefits (though without back pay for the period out of service). It held that an expert Selection Committee's assessment of a candidate's qualifications should not be second-guessed by courts merely by comparing diploma names literally, especially where a subsequently constituted Equivalence Committee of experts had also found the qualifications equivalent; judicial review does not extend to substituting the court's own view on academic equivalence for that of subject-matter experts, absent mala fides or illegality.
Lesson Learnt
Courts will generally defer to the judgment of expert academic selection and equivalence committees on whether a candidate's qualifications match an advertised requirement, rather than deciding such technical equivalence questions themselves based on diploma titles alone.