Madras High Court
The University Grants Commission vs K.Latha ... First Appellant In on 21 August, 2023
W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED: 21.08.2023
CORAM:
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE D.KRISHNAKUMAR
AND
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE P.B. BALAJI
W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
The University Grants Commission,
National Educational Test (NET),
Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
New Delhi-2. ... Appellant
in (all WAs)
versus
1.K.Latha ... first appellant in
W.A.Nos.4190 of 2019
2.B.Gopinath ... first appellant in
W.A.Nos.4277 of 2019
3.T.Raarathi ... first appellant in
W.A.Nos.3436 of 2019
2.The Secretary
Ministry of Human Resources Development,
New Delhi. ... Second Respondent
in (all WAs)
PRAYER in W.A.Nos.4190 of 2019: Writ Appeal filed under Clause
15 of the Letter Patent against the order dated 31.01.2013 in W.P.
No.880 of 2013.
PRAYER in W.A.Nos.4277 of 2019: Writ Appeal filed under Clause
15 of the Letter Patent against the order dated 31.01.2013 in W.P.
No.33798 of 2012.
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W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
PRAYER in W.A.Nos.3436 of 2019:Writ Appeal filed under Clause
15 of the Letter Patent against the order dated 31.01.2013 in W.P.
No.34656 of 2012.
For Appellants : Mr.P.R.Gopinath
(all Wps)
For Respondents : R1- served through paper
publication
(all WPs)
COMMON JUDGMENT
(Judgment of the Court was delivered by D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J.)
Since the issue involved in the appeals is one and the same, a
common order is passed.
2. Though notice sent to the respondents has been returned
unserved, substituted service has been taken by the appellant and
proof of service has also been filed.
3. The appellant University Grants Commission has filed the
instant writ appeals, against the orders of the writ court dated
31.01.2013, allowing the writ petitions filed by the private
respondents herein.
4. According to the appellant University Grants Commission, the
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W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
issue involved in the present writ appeals is no longer res integra in
the light of the order passed by the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the
case of University Grants Commission and Another vs Neha Anil
Bobde (Gadekar) reported in (2013) 10 Supreme Court Cases
519 which covered both National Eligibility Test (NET) and State
Eligibility Test (SET) by prescribing the eligibility criteria.
5. Learned Standing Counsel for appellant University Grants
Commission relies upon the above decision of the Hon'ble Supreme
Court, and prays to set aside the orders of the Writ Court, impugned
in the present Writ Appeals, as the impugned orders were passed by
the Writ Court, even before the decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court
in the above matter. The Hon'ble Supreme Court in the above
decision, has specifically held as follows:
Para 7 of the Notification deals with the
Scheme of the Act which clearly indicates that
the candidates are required to obtain
minimum marks separately in Paper I, Paper
II and Paper III. It also clearly indicates that
only such candidates who obtain minimum
required marks in each paper will be
considered for final preparation of results. The
final qualifying criteria for JRF and eligibility
for lectureship shall be decided by UGC before
declaration of result. Above clause deals with
the following requirements to be followed
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W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
before the final declaration of the results:-
26.1. Candidates to obtain minimum
marks separately in Paper I, Paper II and
Paper III;
26.2. Candidates who have satisfied the
above criteria only would be subjected to a
qualifying criteria before the final preparation
of result; (Consideration Zone)
26.3. UGC has to fix the final qualifying
criteria before the declaration of results.
26.4. Candidates are seeking final
declaration of results the moment they have
obtained the minimum marks separately in
Paper I, Paper II and Paper III, ignoring the
other two steps, referred to hereinbefore, and
also forgetting the fact that only those who
obtain the minimum required marks alone will
fall in the consideration zone. All these steps,
as we have referred to above, have been
clearly stipulated in the notification for NET
Examination, 2012.
27. We find, 2,04,150 candidates have
obtained the minimum marks separately in
Paper I, Paper II and Paper III. All those
candidates were subjected to a final qualifying
criteria fixed by the Committee constituted by
the UGC, since they fell within the
Consideration Zone. Applying the final
qualifying criteria, the Committee made the
following recommendations :-
i) The Committee recommended that a
total of 43,974 candidates may be declared
qualified for lectureship eligibility as per the
qualifying criteria given below :-
Category Minimum Qualifying Percentage
Paper I Paper II Paper III Aggregate
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W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
Category Minimum Qualifying Percentage
General 40% 40% 40% 65%
OBC (non- 35% 35% 45% 60%
creamy layer)
SC/ST/PWD 35% 35% 40% 55%
ii) The Committee recommended that
the NET Bureau may finalize the JRF awardees
as per the criteria mentioned above out of
those candidates who had opted for JRF and
have qualified for lectureship eligibility.
iii) The Committee authorized the
Chairman, University Grants Commission to
declare the result for eligibility for lectureship
and Junior Research Fellowship as
recommended by the Moderation Committee.
While concluding the deliberations, the
Committee expressed the appreciation for the
painstaking effort of the NET Bureau in
analyzing the results and presenting its
findings.
28. We notice, based on the
recommendations of the Expert Committee,
the final results weredeclared and 43,974
candidates were declared qualified for
lectureship eligibility as per the qualifying
criteria. As already indicated, some more
relaxation was also granted in favour of those
persons who got the minimum qualifying
marks since those candidates figured amongst
the top 7% of all the candidates who appeared
in NET, which was in addition to the
candidates declared as qualified in the original
result declared on 18.9.2012. 15,178
candidates were benefitted by that relaxation.
Consequently, as already stated, a total of
57,550 candidates were declared passed in
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W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
the
NET Exam. 2012.
5. We are of the view that the decision rendered by the Hon'ble
Supreme Court cited supra squarely applies to the facts of the case
on hand, since the Hon'ble Supreme Court has laid legal principles of
law with regard to both National Eligibility Test (NET) and State
Eligibility Test (SET) by prescribing the eligibility criteria. Therefore,
we are of the view that the order of the Writ Court, impugned in the
instant appeals is liable to be set aisde. In fine, the orders dated
31.01.2013 passed in W.P.Nos.880 of 2013, 33789 of 2012 and 34656
of 2012 by the leaned Single Judge, are aside. Consequently, the writ
appeals stand allowed. C.M.P.Nos.26077, 26769 and 22045 of 2019
are closed.
[D.K.K., J.] [P.B.B., J.]
21.08.2023
Index : Yes/No
Neutral Citation : Yes/No
mrn
D.KRISHNAKUMAR, J.
and
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W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
P.B. BALAJI, J.
(mrn)
W.A.Nos.4190, 4277 and 3436 of 2019
21.08.2023
https://www.mhc.tn.gov.in/judis
