: 1 : wp.8909.2010 vss IN THE HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT BOMBAY CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION WRIT PETITION NO.8909 OF 2010 Ms.Manjusha Sudhar Jagtap .. Petitioner V/s. The State of Maharashtra & Ors. .. Respondents Mr.M.S. Karnik I/b Mr.P.J. Thorat for the Petitioner Mr.C.R. Sonawane, AGP, for the Respondent No.1 Mr.Nitin Mulye for Resp. No.2 Mr.A.S. Kulkarni for Resp. No.3 Mr.R.A. Rodrigues for Resp. No.5 Mr.Haribhau Deshinge I/b Nitin Jamdar for Resp. No.6 CORAM: B.H. MARLAPALLE & SMT.NISHITA MHATRE, JJ. DATED: AUGUST 17, 2011 P.C.: 1. Heard Mr.Karnik with Mr.Thorat for the petitioner. The petitioner prays for the following substantive reliefs: a. That by a Writ of Mandamus or any other nature of Mandamus the Respondent No.2 be directed to issue the B.S.L. Degree to the Petitioner on account of her completing the six semesters of the 5 years Law Course conducted by the Respondent No.4 College in affiliation to the Respondent No.2 University. b) That by an Order of this Hon'ble Court the Resolution dated 11th December 2008 passed by the Academic Council and : 2 : wp.8909.2010 Resolution dated 24th December, 2008 passed by the Management Council of the Respondent No.2 University be struck down as illegal, null and void the same being violative of the Statute 5.548 of the Solapur University; c) That by a Writ of Mandamus or any other nature of Mandamus the Respondent Nos.2 & 3 be directed to permit the Petitioner to grant admission to the 2nd year MBA Course and be further permitted to appear for the examination of the Third Semester of MBA Course conducted by the Respondent No.3 College in affiliation with the Respondent No.2 University which is scheduled to be held from 2nd December, 2010 and be further directed to declare the result of the Petitioner in the said examination. d) That pending the hearing and final disposal of the present Writ Petition the Respondent Nos.2 & 3 be directed to permit the Petitioner to appear for the examination of the Third Semester of MBA Course conducted by the Respondent No.3 College in affiliation with the Respondent No.2 University which is scheduled to be held from 2nd December, 2010 after granting her admission for the said Semester. e) ... 2. As per the order passed by this Court on 20.4.2011, the University Grants Commission as well as the Bar Council were noticed and the University Grants Commission has filed an affidavit in reply opposing the Petition. 3. The petitioner passed her HSC examination in May/June 2006 and immediately thereafter she came to be admitted to the 5 year degree course in law divided in 10 Semesters with the Respondent : 3 : wp.8909.2010 No.4 College. She completed the 6th Semester of the 5 year law course in May/June 2009 and immediately thereafter she sought admission to the MBA course conducted by Respondent No.3 college. As per the petitioner, she was eligible for admission to the MBA course on the basis of the BSL degree which ought to have been awarded to him at the end of the 6th Semester of the 5 year Law course. After she was admitted to the MBA course she applied to Respondent No.4 college to obtain the BSL degree certificate. But in the Convocation held in November/December, 2009, Respondent No.2 university did not offer the BSL degree. In the meanwhile, the petitioner was permitted to appear for the first Semester examination of MBA course conducted in November/December 2009. She also appeared for the 2nd Semester of the said course. On 9.2.2010 the Petitioner's father approached the Vice-Chancellor of Respondent No.2 University and finally he was informed by the University that she would not get the BSL degree certificate as the University had passed a resolution on 11.12.2008 not to award the BSL degree as per the directions of the University Grants Commission as well as the State of Maharashtra. 4. Shri Manoj Kumar, Education Officer with the University Grants Commission has filed his reply and has pointed out that section 22(2) of : 4 : wp.8909.2010 the University Grants Commission Act 1956 provides that no person or authority shall confer or grant or hold himself or itself out as entitled to confer or grant any degree save as provided in subsection (1). A university, deemed to be university or an institution specifically empowered by an Act of Parliament to confer or grant degrees, can confer only those degrees which are specified by the University Grants Commission u/s 22(3) of the University Grants Commission Act 1956 and unless a degree is so specified by the University Grants Commission, no University or deemed to be University or an Institution specifically empowered by an Act of Parliament can confer the same. It is not open to the Universities or deemed Universities to change the nomenclature of any degree and while conferring or awarding the degrees, the concerned university is required to comply with the norms and regulations framed by the Commission. It has been further stated that the University Grants Commission has specified various degrees in exercise of its powers conferred u/s 22(3) of the University Grants Commission and the said list does not contain the degree known as “BSL”, either prior to 2006 or thereafter and, therefore, it was not open to any University to award the degree with the nomenclature “BSL” to any student. Section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act reads as under: : 5 : wp.8909.2010 22. Right to confer degrees. - (1) The right of conferring or granting degree shall be exercised only by a University established or incorporated by or under a Central Act, a Provincial Act or a State Act or an institution deemed to be a University under section 3 or an institution specially empowered by an Act of Parliament to confer or grant degrees. (2) Save as provided in sub-section (1), no person or authority shall confer, or grant, or hold himself or itself out as entitled to confer or grant, any degree. (3) For the purposes of this section, “degree” means any such degree as may, with the previous approval of the Central Government, be specified in this behalf by the Commission by notification in the Official Gazette”. 5. Our attention has been invited to the Circular issued by the Government of Maharashtra on 22.2.2008. By the said circular, all the non-agricultural Universities in the State of Maharashtra were called upon not to award degrees which were not enlisted by the University Grants Commission u/s 22 of the University Grants Commission Act. It is therefore evident that on the basis of the said circular dated 22.2.2008, the Respondent No.2 University passed the impugned resolution. It is also clear that the said resolution dated 11.12.2008 has been passed much before the Petitioner sought admission to the MBA course. It was submitted by Mr.Karnik, the learned Counsel for the Petitioner, that when she got admission to the first Semester of the 5 year law course in June 2006, she was informed by the College that she would get the “BSL” degree on completion of the 6 Semesters and : 6 : wp.8909.2010 the LL.B. Degree on completion of the 10th Semester. The issue before us is whether the petitioner is entitled to a Writ of Mandamus from this Court on the basis that she was holding the BSL degree when she was admitted to the MBA course. The facts referred to hereinabove would indicate that the University had already decided not to award the BSL degree by its resolution dated 11.12.2008 and, therefore, when the petitioner came to be admitted to the MBA course in June 2009, she was not eligible inasmuch as she was not to be conferred with the BSL degree. At the same time, the award of the said degree by the University was not in keeping with the scheme of section 22 of the University Grants Commission Act inasmuch as the University Grants Commission had not named BSL as one of the degrees that could be awarded by the university or a deemed university. The notifications issued by the University Grants Commission in April 2009 have been placed before us and the BSL degree is not listed in the said notifications. As noted hereinabove, the affidavit filed by the University Grants Commission has reiterated that the said BSL degree was never added in the list of degrees recognised by the University Grants Commission. The respondent University corrected its errors by the impugned resolution dated 11.12.2008, though belatedly and perhaps as a result of the Government circular dated 22.2.2008. In such : 7 : wp.8909.2010 circumstances, the Petitioner cannot claim a Writ of Mandamus from this Court. 6. For the reasons stated hereinabove, we are satisfied that the resolution passed by the University on 11.12.2008 cannot be faulted with and the claim of the petitioner for issuance of the BSL degree on completion of the 6th Semester of 5 year law course cannot be entertained. Hence, the Petition must fail and the same is hereby rejected summarily. (SMT.NISHITA MHATRE, J.) (B.H. MARLAPALLE, J.)