Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Friday
declared as illegal a provision introduced by Uttar Pradesh
Higher Education Service Commission whereby prior experience
had been made essential for eligibility to appear in the
recruitment test for lecturers.
The order was passed by a full Bench comprising Chief
Justic C K Prasad, Justice R K Agrawala and Justice S P
Mehrotra on a writ petition of Gaurav Tripathi who had applied
for the post of lecturer in a degree college in 2007 but did
not get the call for the test.
The petitioner's counsel P S Baghel said the Commission
had, in the advertisements issued in 2007, introduced a
provision whereby only those candidates were to be called for
the tests who had prior teaching experience.
The counsel argued this was ultra vires of the
Constitution as qualifications for the posts of teachers are
statutorily laid down, based on the recommendations of the UGC
and subsequent approval from concerned state governments.
He argued that by introducing the guidelines making
experience mandatory, the Commission, which is merely supposed
to hold the recruitment process and not lay down the
eligibility criteria, has exceeded its powers.
The arguments were accepted by the court.
The judgement is likely to cast a shadow on the
selection of nearly 450 teachers who were recruited in
pursuance of the advertisement issued in 2007.
PTI