Raja Kumar, v. The Tamilnadu State Government
IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT MADRAS
DATED : 06-12-2017
CORAM
THE HONOURABLE MR.JUSTICE S.M.SUBRAMANIAM W.P.No.24967 of 2010 Raja Kumar ..
Petitioner -vs1.The Tamil Nadu State Government, Represented by its Secretary, Education Department, Fort St. George, 2.Teacher Recruitment Board, Represented by its President, College Road, Chennai-6.
3.Barathi Dhasan University, Represented by its Registrar, Palkalai, Perur, Tiruchirapalli-620 024.
4.The Secretary to Govt School Education, Secretariat, 5.Directorate of Teachers Education And Research Training, College Road, Chennai-6.
..
Respondents Writ Petition is filed under Article 226 of the Constitution of India, praying for the issuance of a Writ of Declaration, declaring that B.Sc., Environmental Zoology and B.Sc., Zoology are one and the same for the purpose of Higher Education/Employment.
For Petitioner - Mr.S.Natana Rajan For Respondents-1,2,4&5 - Mr.M.Perumal, Government Advocate.
For Respondent-3 - Mr.V.Govardhanan for M/s.Row & Reddy.
ORDER
The relief sought for in this writ petition is for a declaration to declare that B.Sc., Environmental Zoology and B.Sc., Zoology are one and the same for the purpose of Higher Education/Employment.
2. The learned counsel, appearing on behalf of the writ petitioner, states that the writ petitioner has passed B.Sc., Environmental Zoology in Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli during April 1997. Thereafter, he has completed the B.Ed., degree in Annamalai University during May 1998. The writ petitioner did his M.Ed., degree also in the year 1999 and subsequently, completed the Master of Science degree in Annamalai University during May 2001.
3. The grievances of the writ petitioner is that the qualification of B.Sc., Environmental Zoology to be treated equivalent to B.Sc., Zoology for the purpose of securing public employment and for higher education.
4. The writ petitioner relied on the Certificate issued by the third respondent in this regard. The said Certificate is enclosed in page No.15 of the typed set of papers filed along with the writ petition. The Certificate states that B.Sc., Environmental Zoology degree from Bharathidasan University shall be considered on par with the B.Sc., Zoology degree for the purpose of higher education/employment.
5. This Court is of the opinion that the third respondentUniversity has no authority under any law to issue any such Certificate to the students. The issuance of such kind of Certificates will provide unnecessary and false hope to the young students, who are aspiring to secure public employment and to pursue the higher education.
6. Thus, this Court is of the strong opinion that the Universities are not supposed to issue any such Certificates to the students for the purpose of securing public employment. The equivalence of various academic qualifications are to be considered by the Expert Committee constituted by the State for this purpose. The rules of the State provides that the Committee
constituted for the purpose of declaring the equivalence of various degrees conferred by the Universities across the country and after deliberations, the Committee should submit their recommendations and ultimately, it is the prerogative of the State to issue orders in this regard. Only if the Government accepts the equivalence and pass orders, then alone the students are eligible to get equivalence in respect of the degrees granted by the different Universities across the country.
7. This being the procedure prevailing for granting equivalence of various degrees granted by various Universities, the third respondent-University ought not to have issued such Certificate to the writ petitioner, so as to provide a false hope.
8. In this view of the matter, the relief sought for in this writ petition, cannot be considered in view of the fact that the third respondent-University is not a Competent Authority for issuing equivalence certificate and it is for the State to pass appropriate orders. Thus, this Court is not inclined to consider the claim of the writ petitioner in respect of granting equivalence for the degree of B.Sc., Environmental Zoology possessed by the writ petitioner. It is needless to state that the writ petitioner is at liberty to approach the Competent Authorities for getting declaration of equivalence in respect of the degree acquired by him.
9. Accordingly, the writ petition stands dismissed. However, thee shall be no order as to costs.
Sd/- Assistant Registrar(CS IV) //True Copy// Sub Assistant Registrar Svn To 1.The Secretary, Tamil Nadu State Government, Education Department, Fort St. George,
2.The President, Teacher Recruitment Board, College Road, Chennai-6.
3.The Registrar, Barathi Dhasan University, Palkalai, Perur, Tiruchirapalli-620 024.
4.The Secretary to Govt School Education, Secretariat, 5.Directorate of Teachers Education And Research Training, College Road, Chennai-6.
+1 cc to M/s.S.Natana Rajan Advocate sr86559, +1 cc to M/s.Row and Reddy Advocate sr 87105 +1 cc to Govt Pleader sr 87380 WP 24967 of 2010 aa15/12/2017