Degree equivalence for public employment must consider syllabus and curriculum, not just degree titles, to prevent arbitrary administrative decisions.

JUDGMENT :

SAMEER JAIN, J.

1. The instant petition is filed with the following prayers:-

“i) issue appropriate writ, order ?? direction to the Respondent no.1-RPSC to consider the Petitioner for appointment on the post of ATP pursuant to the advertisement dated 04.10.2022;

ii) issue appropriate writ, order or direction to Respondent no.1-RPSC to consider the educational qualification of the Petitioner i.e. M.Tech. (Transportation Engineering) to be equivalent to M.Tech. (Traffic & Transportation Planning), as determined by Rajasthan Technical University, Kota;

iii) issue appropriate writ, order or direction to Respondent no.1 -RPSC to publish the final result of the Petitioner pursuant to the advertisement dated 04.10.2022 and counselling convened on 21.12.2023;

iv) 'Any other appropriate direction or order which is deemed just and proper by this Hon'ble Court may also be issued/passed in favour of the humble Petitioner and in the interest of justice.”

2. At the outset, learned counsel for the petitioner, Mr. Sandeep Pathak, submitted that the petitioner is aggrieved of the arbitrary and unjust action of the respondents in not extending appointment to the petitioner on the post of Assistant Town Planner (ATP) despite the petitioner succeeding in the written examination conducted by the respondent-RPSC, and holding all the requisite educational qualifications in addition to having already participated in the counselling convened by the RPSC on the scheduled date. In this regard, learned counsel stressed that the respondents are ignoring the specific and clear educational qualifications encapsulated in the subject advertisement dated 04.10.2022, which are duly met by the petitioner and as a result of such ignorance, the petitioner is being deprived of the benefit of appointment on the post of ATP, in an arbitrary manner.

3. In order to highlight the purported illegality and/or arbitrariness, learned counsel submitted that the respondents are ignoring the specific educational qualifications mentioned in the advertisement dated 04.10.2022, according to which the degree of M.Tech. (Traffic and Transportation Planning) or its equivalent degree is valid for consideration for appointment on the post of Assistant Town Planner. In this regard, learned counsel for the petitioner submitted that covering all squares, the degree held by the petitioner i.e. M.Tech. (Transportation Engineering) is equivalent to M.Tech. (Traffic and Transportation Planning). Moreover, the said equivalence between the two stated degrees is also ascertained and thereafter confirmed by the highest body in technical education i.e. All India Council for Technical Education (hereinafter, AICTE) vide clarification dated 23.10.2020. It was also submitted that the AICTE has clarified that mere nomenclature ought not to be analyzed for assessing the equivalence of degrees, but also the syllabi and course materials in the said degrees. In any case, the AICTE vide clarification dated 23.10.2020 concluded that the body best equipped to ascertain equivalence, shall be the University itself or the State. Lastly, learned counsel apprised the Court of the fact that even the University from where the petitioner obtained his degree i.e. Rajasthan Technical University, Kota has ascertained the rightful equivalency between the two degrees vide letter dated 22.12.2023.

4. Therefore, in light of the above, Mr. Pathak urged that the respondents ought to have acknowledged the equivalence of degrees and granted appointment to the petitioner, looking to his merit and eligibility for the concerned post of Assistant Town Planner. Consequently, it was prayed that the instant petition be allowed in terms of the prayers so advanced.

5. Per contra, learned counsel for the respondent-State, Mr. Sandeep Taneja AAG, assisted by the counsel for the respondent-RPSC, submitted that the eligibility criterion encapsulated within the advertisement dated 04.10.2022 is abundantly clear, leaving no room for inter