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Shifana P.S. vs State of Kerala

Not available · 2024 INSC 580Decided 6 Aug 2024
Not available
Justice Hima Kohli · Justice Sandeep Mehta

Background

The Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) advertised posts for High School Assistant (Physical Science), requiring a degree with Physics/Chemistry as a main subject. The appellant held a B.Sc. in Polymer Chemistry (not plain Chemistry) along with a B.Ed., cleared the written exam, but was then asked to prove her Polymer Chemistry degree was equivalent to a Chemistry degree. Although the University of Calicut had certified the two as equivalent for employment and higher studies, the KPSC excluded her from the final merit list, relying on an earlier Kerala High Court ruling that the KPSC itself has no authority to decide "equivalence" of qualifications unless the specific recruitment rules allow for it. Her challenge before the Kerala Administrative Tribunal and later the Kerala High Court both failed.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court agreed with the lower forums, holding that equivalence of an academic qualification is a technical academic matter that cannot be assumed or implied by a recruiting body like the KPSC: any such equivalence must come from a specific order or resolution of the competent academic authority, duly published, and applicable to the recruitment rules in question. It held that the university's own certificate, issued for general employment and higher-study purposes, did not satisfy this requirement in the specific context of these recruitment rules, and reaffirmed that the appellant was correctly found not qualified for the post as advertised. The appeal was accordingly dismissed with no order as to costs.

Lesson Learnt

When a government job requires a specific degree subject, a general "equivalence" certificate from a university is not automatically enough: the recruiting rules themselves must recognise that equivalence through a specific, duly published academic decision, so candidates with non-standard degree combinations should verify this before relying on the exam process alone.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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