JUDGMENT

Jyoti Singh, J. - Hearing has been conducted through Video Conferencing.

2. Aspiring to be appointed as Assistant Professor in the Special Centre for National Security Studies (hereinafter referred to as the "Centre"), Petitioner applied for the Post pursuant to an Advertisement issued in May 2019. Being unsuccessful in crossing the first threshold of invitation for the interview, Petitioner filed the present writ petition seeking quashing of List dated 04.08.2020, a list of candidates shortlisted for interview as also a direction to the Respondents to issue a fresh list in accordance with the original criteria stipulated in the Advertisement.

3. The controversy in the present case has its genesis in the alleged change in the selection criteria, midstream, by the Respondents at the time of short-listing the candidates for interview, amounting to changing the Rules of the game after it begins. In this background the brief facts that require a mention are encapsulated hereunder.

4. Respondents published an Advertisement being Advt. No.RC/62/2019 in May 2019, inviting applications for 4 posts of Assistant Professors in the Centre. Present petition concerns with Post No.1 pertaining to an Unreserved Post for Assistant Professor. The Essential Qualification mentioned in the Advertisement for the said post to the extent it is relevant is as follows :-

"Essential Qualifications:

Assistant Professor:

Pay Level 10 of 7th CPC Rs. 57,700/-1,82,400/-

(i). A Master''s degree with 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point-scale wherever the grading system is followed) in a concerned / relevant / allied subject from an Indian University, or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university.

(ii). Besides fulfilling the above qualifications, the candidate must have cleared the National Eligibility Test (NET) conducted by UGC or the CSIR, or a similar test accredited by the UGC, like SLET / SET or who are or have been awarded a Ph.D Degree in accordance with the University Grants Commission (Minimum Standards and Procedure for Award of M Phil / Ph.D. Degree) Regulations, 2009 or 2016 and their amendments from time to time, as the case may, be exempted from NET / SLET / SET"

5. The last date for submitting the applications was 19.08.2019. Petitioner desirous of applying against Post No.1 submitted her application on 17.08.2019. On 05.08.2020, Recruitment Cell of the University published a list of candidates short-listed for the interview. The said list dated 04.08.2020, mentioned the short-listing criteria adopted by the Respondents, wherein Master''s Degree in Languages and Social Sciences was excluded.

6. Name of the Petitioner did not figure in the list of short-listed candidates and thus on the same day i.e. 05.08.2020, Petitioner sent a representation to Vice Chancellor of Respondent No.1 pointing out that the eligibility criteria mentioned in the impugned list was different from the one mentioned in the Advertisement. She also stated that she fulfilled the original criteria and rejection of her candidature in the light of the modified criteria was illegal and impermissible and thereby requested the Vice Chancellor to reconsider her candidature and shortlist her for the interview scheduled on 24.08.2020. Not getting any response on the representation, Petitioner invoked the jurisdiction of this Court under Article 226 of the Constitution of India.

7. Learned counsel for the Petitioner contends that in the Advertisement, the Essential Qualification required was only a Master''s Degree with 55% marks in the concerned/relevant/allied subject from an Indian University or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign University. Thus anyone who possessed a Master''s Degree with minimum 55% from the required University was eligible to apply and no subject was excluded. However, subsequently the Respondents in the garb of short-listing, modified the eligibility criteria and categorically excluded Master''s Degree in Language