The court establishes that diplomas issued by deemed universities through distance education are not valid for promotions unless recognized by relevant authorities, reaffirming the requirement for AICTE approval.

ORDER :

1. Under assail is the order dated 25.04.2019 in OA.Nos.925 of 2015 and order dated 27.08.2019 in in RA.No.19 of 2019 in OA.No.925 of 2015 on the file of the Central Administrative Tribunal, Chennai Bench (WP.No.28402 of 2019) and order dated 25.04.2019 in OA.No.325 of 2016 (WP.No.1737 of 2020). The unsuccessful applicants before the Tribunal have preferred the writ petitions before this Court.

2. The case of the petitioners is that the petitioners are working in various capacities in the Electricity Department and the next promotion for them, as per the recruitment rules is the post of Tester. According to the recruitment rules, the petitioners should possess 5 years of service and should have passed Diploma from a recognised University. The petitioners have passed Diploma in Electrical Engineering (DEE) through Distance Education mode from a deemed University. However, the respondents had denied promotion to the petitioners on the ground that the Diploma possessed by the petitioners are not valid and cannot be accepted. Therefore, the petitioners have preferred OA.Nos. 925 of 2015 and 325 of 2016. The Tribunal dismissed the above OAs vide order dated 25.04.2019.

3. Mr.Balan Haridoss, learned counsel appearing for the petitioners in WP.No.28402 of 2019 would submit that the petitioners possessed the prescribed Diploma qualification and they are eligible to be appointed as Testers. There is no specific rule requiring the qualification to be obtained in a regular course. In the absence of such specific stipulation, the petitioners are qualified to be appointed as Testor. The Diploma obtained from the deemed University stands automatically regularised for the purpose of employment, as per the letter of Ministry of Human Resources Development Dated 28.01.2004. He would submit that the course adopted by the deemed University have post facto approval granted by the UGC through Distance Education mode. To strengthen his contentions, the learned counsel relied upon the judgment of the Hon'ble Supreme Court reported in (i) Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation Limited v. Rabi Sankar Patro and others , 2018 (1) SCC 468 (ii) Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation Limited v. Rabi Sankar Patro and others , 2018 (2) SCC 298 (iii) Order in Civil Appeal No. 872 of 2018 dated 25.01.2018, State of Madya Pradesh and others v. Alok Tripathi and others and (iv) Order in Civil Appeal No. 3697-3698 of 2018 dated 16.02.2018, Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University Registrar v. The Chairman and Managing Director Transmission Corporation of Telangana Ltd. and others . He would further drew the attention of this Court to a letter sent by the UGC dated 14.10.2013 to all the Indian Universities, wherein it has been stated at Paragraph No.6 as follows:

“Accordingly, the Degrees/Diplomas/Certificates awarded for programmes conducted by the ODL institutions, recognized by DEC (erstwhile) and UGC, in conformity with UGC Notification on specification of Degrees should be treated as equivalent to the corresponding awards of the Degree/ Diploma/Certificate of the traditional Universities/ Institutions in the country.”

4. To strengthen his contentions, he has relied upon a decision of the Hon'ble Supreme Court in the case reported in Orissa Lift Irrigation Corporation Limited Vs. Rabi Sankar Patro and others, (2018) 2 SCC 298 [M.A. Nos. 1795-1796/2017 in Civil Appeal Nos. 17869 & 17870/2017] and submitted that the Diploma awarded by the concerned Universities are not barred from consideration for promoti