ORDER :

About the identicalness in the controversy involved in the present cases, with the joint request of the parties, these writ petitions are finally heard and being decided by this common order.

The facts of W.P. No.18054 of 2023

2. The petitioner has filed the present petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India challenging the notices dated 16.06.2023 & 12.07.2023 issued by the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (in short MPPSC), whereby his candidature has been rejected for want of Master of Business Administration (MBA) for the post of Branch Officer/Estate Manager to be selected for The M.P. Housing & Infrastructure Development Board.

3. The MPPSC issued an advertisement dated 30.12.2021 for selection to the post of Branch Officer/Estate Manager for the M.P. Housing & Infrastructure Development Board. In the said advertisement, the educational qualifications for the said post are written as 'Bachelor Degree in any subject and MBA'. The petitioner applied for the said post on 11.02.2022 and appeared in the written examination held on 06.11.2022 under 'Unreserved' category. The petitioner cleared the written examination and on 29.11.2022, he was called for document verification. Vide advertisement dated 16.06.2023, the petitioner has been declared disqualified due to lack of educational qualification i.e. MBA. The petitioner approached the respondents by submitting a detailed representation stating that he possesses a Bachelor's Degree in Engineering and a Master's in Management Studies (MMS) which is equivalent to MBA, therefore, he is liable to be appointed on the said post. Vide advertisement dated 12.07.2023, the respondents have rejected the candidature of the petitioner, hence, the present petition is before this Court.

4. Vide order dated 24.08.2023 by way of interim relief, the petitioner was permitted to appear in the interview, however, the result was not directed to be declared without leave of this Court and he shall not claim any parity. In compliance of the aforesaid order, the petitioner was permitted to appear in the interview.

The facts of W.P. No.17893 of 2023

5. Petitioner – Ateesh Rai filed a Writ Petition who has also been declared disqualified as he does not have the essential qualification for the post in question i.e. MBA. In this case, the petitioner possesses a degree of a Post Graduate Diploma in Management (PGDM) from Balaji Institute of Modern Management and the Course is approved by All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. According to the petitioner, the syllabus for both the courses i.e. PGDM and MBA are the same. The Association of Indian Universities (AIU) vide letter dated 12.12.2013 has duly certified that two years full-time Post Graduate Diploma in Management is equivalent to an MBA Degree.

The reply of the M.P. Public Service Commission

6. The recruiting agency PSC filed a reply by submitting that the petitioners do not possess the educational qualification (i.e. MBA) as per the advertisement and as per the Recruitment Rules. The advertisement dated 01.03.2022 specifically provides that for the post of Branch Officer/Estate Officer, the essential educational qualification is a Bachelor Degree + MBA. It is further submitted that as per Schedule – IV (A) Serial No.4 of Madhya Pradesh Housing and Infrastructure Development Board (Organizational Structural and Recruitment) Regulations, 2016 (in short the Regulations of 2016), the education qualification is a Degree from any Faculty + MBA, therefore, no equivalent degree is acceptable for the said post and the petitioner has rightly been declared disqualified.

7. By way of additional return, it is submitted that MPPSC sought a clarification from the M.P. Housing & Infrastructure Development Board whether any other equivalent qualification can be accepted for t