Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, J. – Heard Mr. S.D. Sanjay, learned senior counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Kaushik Kumar Jha, learned senior counsel assisted by Mr. Amish Kumar, learned counsel for the Bihar Public Service Commission and Mr. Ruchikar Jha, learned AC to SC-8 for the State.

2. The petitioner in the present case is seeking the following reliefs: –

“a. For issuance of a writ to quash the final result dated 06.03.2023 published by the Respondent BPSC for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor (Electrical Engineering) in Advertisement No. 11/2020 as the petitioner has been declared ineligible for the said post and his candidature has been cancelled by the Respondent BPSC without considering his objection or giving him an opportunity of hearing in an arbitrary manner and in violation of the principles of natural justice;

b. For direction upon the Respondent BPSC to consider the petitioner eligible to the post of Assistant Professor (Electrical Engineering) who holds the Degree of the integrated course i.e. B.Tech in Electrical Engineering and M.Tech in Information and Communication Technology (Five years);

c. For a direction upon the Respondent BPSC to publish a revised result for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor (Electrical Engineering) in Advertisement No. 11/2020 considering the candidature and merit of the Petitioner and thereafter, declare the result of the petitioner;

d. For a direction upon the Respondent BPSC to appoint the Petitioner to the post of Assistant Professor (Electrical Engineering) in accordance with the respective rules of appointment if he is declared successful in the final result for selection to the post in question; and/or for any other relief(s) for which the petitioner may be found entitled to in the facts and circumstances of the present case.”

Submissions of the Petitioner

3. Learned senior counsel for the petitioner submits that pursuant to the Advertisement No. 11 of 2020 issued by the Bihar Public Service Commission (hereinafter referred to as the ‘BPSC’) for regular appointment to the post of Assistant Professors, Electrical Engineering in Government Engineering College under the Department of Science and Technology, Patna, Bihar as contained in Annexure ‘1’ to the writ application, the petitioner submitted his application.

4. Learned senior counsel submits that vide Annexure ‘2’ which is the list of eligible candidates published by the BPSC, the petitioner was declared ineligible for the reason that he has obtained Post Graduation Degree of M.Tech in Information and Communication Technology and not of M.Tech. in Electrical Engineering.

5. Learned senior counsel submits that from Annexure ‘1’, it would appear that the educational qualification/eligibility of the candidate has been laid down as B.E/B.Tech/B.S./B.Sc (Engineering) and M.E./M.Tech./M.S. or integrated M.Tech in Electrical Engineering. His emphasis is that the petitioner has done his M.Tech in Information and Communication Technology which has been designed by the Indian Institutes of Technology, Delhi and is being taught under the Department of Electrical Engineering, therefore, his Post Graduation Degree is to be taken as equivalent to the M.Tech in Electrical Engineering.

6. To impress upon this Court with his submissions, learned senior counsel has placed before this Court a copy of the public notice issued by All India Council for Technical Education (in short ‘AICTE’) and a copy of the answers given by AICTE to the frequently asked questions on its website. It is submitted that this Court may appreciate that the petitioner has got a better expertise and he has completed his B.Tech in Electrical Engineering combined with M.Tech in Information and Communication Technology and some of the contents of the course of Information and Communication Technology are similar to the contents of the course of M.Tech in Electrical Engineering.

7. Learned senior counsel has placed before this Court a copy of the representation sub