JUDGMENT

S.C. Agrawal, J.-Special leave granted in both the special leave petitions.

These appeals raise questions relating to grant of exemption from the provisions contained in the University Grants Commission (Qualifications Required of a Person to be Appointed to the Teaching Staff of a University and Institutions Affiliated to it) Regulations, 1991 (hereinafter referred to as the 1991 Regulations ) which require that for appointment on the post of lecturer in universities and colleges the candidate should have cleared the eligibility test for lecturers conducted by the University Grants Commission (hereinafter referred to as the UGC ), Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (for short CSIR ) or similar test accredited by the UGC.

The UGC has been established under The University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (hereinafter referred to as the Act ) which was enacted by Parliament to make provisions for the co-ordination and determination of standards in Universities. One of the functions entrusted to the UGC under the Act is to recommend to any University the measures necessary for the improvement of University education and advise the University upon the action to be tak