JUDGMENT

K. S. Radhakrishnan, J.

1. Leave granted.

2. We are, in these appeals, called upon to examine whether the University Grants Commission (for short “the UGC”) has got the power to fix the final qualifying criteria, for those who have obtained the minimum marks for all the papers, before the final declaration of the results of the National Eligibility Test (for short “NET”) for the year 2012.

3. We have, before us, a judgment of the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court, Bench at Nagpur, which ruled that the UGC lacked the competence to fix the aggregate marks as the final qualifying criteria, after the candidates obtained the minimum marks, prescribed in the notification dated 6.12.2012 before the declaration of results of NET Examination, agreeing with a similar view expressed by a learned single Judge of the Kerala High Court.

4. Let us, at the outset, examine the scope of the University Grants Commission Act, 1956 (for short “the UGC Act”), the University Grants Commission Regulations, 2010 etc., which is necessary for a proper appreciation of the various contention