Case: DEVENDER BHASKAR &amp; ORS Vs. STATE OF HARYANA &amp; ORS

3. The appellants herein were impleaded as respondents before the High Court as the outcome of the result of the said writ petition was likely to affect their service career. Respondent nos. 1 to 3 herein, namely, The State of Haryana, Director, School Education, Haryana and Haryana Staff Selection Commission were arrayed as respondent nos. 1 to 3 in the writ petition. Most of the private respondents in this appeal were writ petitioners before the High Court and some of the respondents herein are interveners. For the sake of convenience, the parties are referred to in their respective ranking before the High Court.4. The dispute draws its genesis from the advertisement No.6/2006, dated 20.07.2006 (Annexure-P8) which was issued by the Haryana State Staff Selection Commission (for short, Commission) inviting applications to fill up 816 posts of Arts and Crafts teachers in the State of Haryana. The eligibility criteria for the same amongst others was as under:(i) Matric from Haryana School Education Board or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Haryana School Education Board.(ii) Two year Diploma in Art and Craft examination conducted by the Haryana Industrial Training Department or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Haryana Education Department.(iii) Knowledge of Hindi upto Matric Standard.5. The case of the petitioners is that they passed their matriculation with the subject of Arts and Crafts/Drawing or they have passed the subject of Arts and Crafts/Drawing in their matriculation as additional subject. All the petitioners passed their two-year diploma in Art and Craft from the Kurukshetra University. The petitioners, on the basis of their qualifications, applied for the aforesaid post to the Commission. Their applications were not entertained by the Commission for the reason that they had passed their two-year diploma in Art and Craft from Kurukshetra University which is not recognized as equivalent qualification by the Haryana Education Department, which led to the filing of the writ petitions in the High Court.6. On 12.12.2006, the Director of School Education Haryana, Chandigarh, addressed a letter to all the District Education Officers/District Elementary Education Officers in which it was informed that diploma in Art and Craft conducted by the Director, Industrial Training and Vocational Education, Haryana, is the only recognized course in the State of Haryana. This letter further stated that the diploma/certificates in Art and Craft from the Kurukshetra University are not recognized for the purpose of appointment for Arts and Crafts Teacher in the State of Haryana. The petitioners have also challenged the validity of this letter in the writ petitions before the High Court.7. Respondents no.1 to 3 filed objections opposing the writ petition. It was contended that the diploma in Art and Craft is given by the Industrial Training and Vocational Education Department, Haryana, to the students who attend regular class room teaching. Most of the subjects are practical subjects and their studies cannot be possible through distance education. The diploma granted by the Kurukshetra University in Art and Craft through distance education is not a teacher training course. Therefore, it cannot be equated with the diploma given through regular class room studies. Moreover, the said diploma is only for the purpose of self-employment and the same is not recognized for the purpose of teacher training course by the Education Department as well as by the Department of Industrial Training and Vocational Education, Haryana.8. The private respondents in the writ petitions have also taken similar contentions and sought for dismissal of the writ petitions. The High Court, on consideration of the contentions of the learned counsel for the parties and on perusal of the materials placed on record, allowed the writ petitions. The High Court held that the petitioners have a legal right to be considered for the post of Arts and Crafts teachers with the strength of the diploma secured by them from the Kurukshetra University.

Reasoning:
13. As noticed above, the advertisement dated 20.07.2006 was issued by the Commission inviting applications for filling up of 816 posts of Arts and Crafts teachers in the State of Haryana. One of the important eligibility criteria was a two-year diploma in Art and Craft Examination conducted by the Haryana Industrial Training Department or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Haryana Education Department. The writ petitioners are holders of two-year diploma in Art and Craft from the Kurukshetra University.14. The materials on record clearly suggest that the Art and Craft Course is a highly practical oriented course and the appointee teachers have to train the students in Art and Craft which is a practical subject. The diploma in Art and Craft is given by the Industrial Training and Vocational Education Department, Haryana, to the students who attend regular class room teaching. Most of the subjects are practical subjects and their study is not possible through distance education. The Kurukshetra University grants the diploma in Art and Craft through distance education. This diploma cannot be equated with the diploma given through regular class room studies. In fact, in a meeting convened by the Financial Commissioner and Principal Secretary, Industrial Training and Vocational Education Department on 27.11.2003, it was decided to ask the Kurukshetra University to discontinue the said course from the next academic sessions i.e. 2004-2005 as it was running through distance education and the same was not in the best interest of the students. The Kurukshetra University has issued a caution notice in various leading newspapers in which it was made clear that some institutions who had given misleading advertisement for Kurukshetra University course of Art and Craft as a teacher training course. It was also clarified that the diploma in Art and Craft from the Kurukshetra University does not guarantee any specific job.18. It is also relevant to state here that Kurukshetra University itself has clarified that the diploma in Art and Craft started by it through correspondence is not meant for appointment to the post of Arts and Crafts Teachers. In fact, Kurukshetra University has never claimed that the aforementioned diploma is valid for appointment of Arts and Crafts Teachers. The Registrar of Kurukshetra University in a public notice dated 27.09.2004 has clarified that this degree is meant for enabling the students to become self-employed. None of the documents produced by the petitioners would indicate that the diploma in Art and Craft awarded by the Kurukshetra University is equivalent to the twoyear diploma in Art and Craft Examination conducted by the Haryana Industrial Training Department. In its letter dated 24.12.2004, at Exhibit P-4, the Kurukshetra University has clearly stated that the University does not guarantee any specific job for any of the courses including the diploma in Art and Craft.19. The documents, Exhibit P-2 to P-4, do not claim that the course in question has been recognized as equivalent to two-year Diploma in Art and Craft examination conducted by the Haryana Industrial Training Department or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Haryana Education Department.20. We have already noticed that one of the eligibility criteria for appointment to the post of Arts and Crafts teacher as per the advertisement dated 20.07.2006 is a two-year Diploma in Art and Craft examination conducted by the Haryana Industrial Training Department or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Haryana Education Department. It was made clear by the Industrial Training and Vocational Educational Department, Haryana, that diploma in Art and Craft Course by the Kurukshetra University is conducted through distance education and that this course cannot be equated with two-year diploma in Art and Craft Course awarded by the Haryana Industrial Training Department. Recognition of the said Course by the State of Haryana, as held by the High Court, is entirely different from its equivalence. When the experts in the Education Department have held the diploma in Art and Craft by the Kurukshetra University is not equivalent to the two-year diploma in Art and Craft awarded by the Haryana Industrial Training Department, we are of the view that the High Court was not justified in equalizing them.21. In Mohammad Shujat Ali & Ors. v. Union of India & Ors (1975) 3 SCC 76 ,  it was held that the question regarding equivalence of educational qualifications is a technical question based on proper assessment and evaluation of the relevant academic standards and practical attainments of such qualifications. It was further held that where the decision of the Government is based on the recommendation of an expert body, then the Court, uninformed of relevant data and unaided by technical insights necessary for the purpose of determining equivalence, would not lightly disturb the decision of the Government unless it is based on extraneous or irrelevant considerations or actuated mala fides or is irrational and perverse or manifestly wrong.25. In Zahoor Ahmad Rather & Ors. v. Sheikh Imtiyaz Ahmad & Ors. (2019) 2 SCC 404 ,  it was held that the State, as an employer, is entitled to prescribe qualifications as a condition of eligibility, after taking into consideration the nature of the job, the aptitude required for efficient discharge of duties, functionality of various qualifications, course content leading up to the acquisition of various qualifications, etc. Judicial review can neither expand the ambit of the prescribed qualifications nor decide the equivalence of the prescribed qualifications with any other given qualification. Equivalence of qualification is a matter for the State, as recruiting authority, to determine.26. Having regard to the above, in our view, the High Court has erred in holding that the diploma/degree in Art and Craft given by the Kurukshetra University is equivalent to two-year Diploma in Art and Craft examination conducted by the Haryana Industrial Training Department or diploma in Art and Craft conducted by Director, Industrial Training and Vocational Education, Haryana.