JUDGMENT :

K.R. MOHAPATRA, J.

1. The petitioner desirous of pursuing her Ph.D. Programme 2017 (Summer Session) under National Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhubaneswar (NISER) has filed this writ petition assailing certain conditions of the advertisement (Annexure-2) published for the said purpose, contending that the same are not in conformity with the Rules and guidelines applicable to NISER.

2. It is contended in the writ petition that the petitioner has completed her Master degree in English from Utkal University and is pursuing her M.Phil./Ph.D. in Linguistics under Jawaharal Nehru University (JNU). She also belongs to ‘Kudmi’ by caste, which was a backward community. She has also qualified the UGC-NET in Linguistics, which is an equivalent subject in English. As such, she is eligible to pursue a Ph.D. course under any leading University/Institution of the country.

3. Pursuant to an advertisement, i.e., Advt. No.NISER/ACAD/Ph.D/2017-18(1) published by NISER (Annexure-2), the petitioner is intending to apply for the Ph.D. Programme-2017. Due to some unreasonable conditions incorporated in the advertisement under Annexure-2, she has been deprived of submitting her application and thus is constrained to file his writ petition.

4. The petitioner essentially assails the following conditions of the advertisement:

Eligbility

1. Age: Not more than 28 years on 1st April, 2017 (Born on/after 2nd April, 1989)

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2. Candidates should have qualified the CSIRUGCNET/GATE/GPAT/JEST/INSPIRE (Doctoral fellowship under AORC Scheme/JGEEBILS or any other equivalent national level examination, valid for the current year in the relevant area of research.

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Selection Procedure

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The short-listed candidates will be called for an interview, supplemented by a written test, if necessary, for the admission.”

The petitioner further contends that there is no reservation of seats for backward classes as applicable to the leading educational institutions of the country. Thus, the advertisement under Annexure-2 is not sustainable in the eyes of law. Hence, she prays for setting aside the aforesaid conditions of the advertisement and also seeks for a direction to make provisions for reservation of seats for the backward classes as per the norms applicable to the educational institutions.

5. NISER through its Registrar (opp. party No.4) filed counter affidavit denying the allegations made in the writ petition. It is contended inter alia that fixing upper age limit in the impugned advertisement is neither discriminatory nor unreasonable nor irrational. NISER has not violated any provisions of law or UGC guidelines in fixing the upper age limit of 28 years for admission into Ph.D. Programme. Such a policy decision has been taken by the authorities of NISER giving utmost consideration to the future prospects of the students pursuing Ph.D. Programmes. It is contended that on an average, a student takes five to seven years for successful completion of Ph. D. Programme and all the national Level Universities and Institutes mandate at least two to five years of post Ph.D experience for recruitment at the entry level, such as, Assistant Professor or equivalent. Thus, keeping in view the future career prospects of a student pursuing Ph.D. Course, the upper age limit has been fixed at 28 years for enrollment into Ph.D. Programme. Further, NISER is governed by the prescribed norms and procedures for different academic programmes/courses under Homi Bhabha National Institute. Thus, the provision of Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Admission) Act 2006 which deals with reservation policy in educational institutions could not be made applicable to NISER as per Clause 4 (b) of the Act. Accordingly, reservation in admission on the basis of caste, is not applicable to NISER. However, it is conceded by NISER in its counter affidavit that the qualification of UGC-NET cannot be confined to current year as mentioned in the advertisement as the