Judgment

1. At the very outset, let it be mentioned that on account of dissenting and divergent views expressed by two learned Judges of this Court, comprising Hon’ble Mr Justice Sanjeev Kumar and Hon’ble Mr Justice Rashid Ali Dar, in an Appeal, diarised and registered as LPASW no.118/2018, Hon’ble the Chief Justice, has referred this Appeal, in exercise of Sub-Rule (2) of Rule 36 of the J&K High Court Rules, 1999, and that is how, this Single Bench is constituted to call upon to decide, determine and adjudicate upon the controversy in hand. Hon’ble Mr Justice Sanjeev Kumar has proposed to allow the Appeal and set-aside learned Writ Court judgement dated 10thAugust 2018, whereas Hon’ble Mr Justice Rashid Ali Dar (now retired) proposed to dismiss the Appeal of appellants/writ petitioners.

2. The Hon’ble Judges have come up with three questions for determination by the Third Judge, to be designated for the purpose by Hon’ble the Chief Justice, which are:

(1) Whether Regulation 4.4.1 of the UGC Regulations on Minimum Qualification for Appointment of Teachers and other academic staff in Universities and Colleges and measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education, 2010, w