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The Supreme Court refused to cancel an Assistant Professor’s appointment, noting that UGC-NET was the mandatory qualification. However, it ordered MDU to conduct a fresh inquiry into doubts over his Ph.D. degree.

The Supreme Court has refused to cancel the appointment of an Assistant Professor despite prima facie material raising serious questions over the authenticity of the Ph.D. degree submitted by him, holding that the doctoral degree was not an essential qualification for the post.

A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Manmohan held that the Assistant Professor had independently satisfied the mandatory eligibility requirement by qualifying the UGC-NET examination. However, taking note of documents suggesting that his Ph.D. degree could be fake, the Court directed Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU) to conduct a fresh inquiry into the degree, as reported by Live law.

The case relates to the appointment of an Assistant Professor of Physical Education at Sat Jinda Kalyana College, Rohtak, affiliated with MDU.

Challenge to Assistant Professor’s appointment

The appellants, who had approached the Court after failing to secure the appointment themselves, had challenged the selection of the sixth respondent. They questioned the authenticity of his Ph.D. degree, which was allegedly awarded by Bundelkhand University, Jhansi.