Ph.D mandatory for Assistant Professor recruitment? SC issues notice

July 7, 2021

In a recent hearing of July 3, Supreme Court has issued a notice on a special leave petition. This has questioned and challenged a Kerala High Court judgement that held Ph. D being mandatory for Associate Professor posts in technical institutions.
This ruling was being held after March 5, 2010 as per the All India Council for Technical Education, AICTE regulations. A bench of Justices Sanjay Kishan Kaul and Hemant Gupta has sought the responses of the All India Council for Technical Education, State Government and Director of Technical Education.
The bench headed by Justice Kaul was hearing the challenge to the impugned judgment dated December 3, 2020 whereby a Division Bench of the High Court found that Rule 6A(ii) of the Special Rules for Kerala Technical Education Service, 1967 (Special Rules) is not applicable after March 5, 2010. This rule, added in 2003 was giving seven years time to get a Ph. D degree.
In this entire case, the Petitioners are three Associate Professors in Engineering colleges. They approached the Supreme Court because they thought that the High Court’s judgement will result in their demotion.

The Petitioners argued that while considering the validity of Rule 6A(ii) of the Special Rules, which was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2016, the High Court ought to have proceeded with more caution and appreciated all the regulations issued by AICTE from time to time.
However, in the matter under hearing now, the Supreme Court is taking into account the cases of people who have already been promoted as Associate Professors after the previous SC judgement. The consideration is whether this can be reverted on the basis of the impugned judgment of the High Court.