The Allahabad High Court has asked the Aligarh Muslim University to remain cautious in future while publishing advertisements for recruitment to the posts of Lecturer. The High Court also held that no ambiguity should be created and the University must specifically mention qualifications that a candidate must possess while applying for the post.

The Petitioners (Amma Khatoon, Dr. Mohd. Azfar Shaida and Dr. Syed Md. Humayun Akhter) approached the High Court in the year 2021 with a prayer that they may be allowed to participate in a selection process initiated in pursuance of two Advertisements issued by A.M.U. contending that they were also qualified for the post of Lecturer (Chemistry). The petitioners possessed an M.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry and claimed that the same could be an “allied subject”, i.e., an essential qualification for the said post.

The Single Bench of Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery disposed of the Petition by ordering, “Registrar, A.M.U. shall remain cautious in future while publishing advertisements that it may not create ambiguity but such ambiguity should be removed i.e. words shall be chosen carefully and instead of ambiguous words “concerned/relevant/allied subject”, the University must specifically mention about qualification so that all eligible candidates may participate in advertisement and no one be left prejudiced.”




Advocate Mohd Aadil Siddiqui represented the petitioner, while A.S.G.I. represented the Respondent.

Reasoning

The Bench noted that earlier, a similar controversy arose regarding an earlier recruitment process conducted by respondent A.M.U., and the matter reached upto the Supreme Court in the case of Mohd. Sohrab Khan vs. Aligarh Muslim University and others, (2009) wherein it was finally held that a Master's Degree holder in Industrial Chemistry would not be better suited for the post of Lecturer (Chemistry) without any specific declaration in the advertisement to this effect. It was further observed that the post advertised was meant to be filled up by a person belonging to the pure Chemistry stream, without any specific clause that a person holding M.Sc. Industrial Chemistry would also be eligible or could be better suited.

In light of such aspect, the Bench said, “It appears that A.M.U. has not understood the direction and has not followed above referred judgment in its true spirit and without making any specific clarification for purpose of appointment of Assistant Professor (Chemistry) in subsequent advertisement i.e. whether M.Sc. Industrial Chemistry would be an equal eligibility or not and instead of having used some ambiguous words i.e. “A Master’s degree with 55% marks (or an equivalent grade in a point-scale wherever the grading system is followed) in a concerned/relevant/allied subject from an Indian University, or an equivalent degree from an accredited foreign university” in the advertisement in question.”

The Bench further explained that the words “concerned/relevant/allied subject may have different meanings in different circumstances. It appeared to the Bench that A.M.U. had not followed the dictum passed by the Supreme Court in Mohd. Sohrab Khan (supra) and perpetuated the ambiguity in subsequent advertisements. However, they did try to clear the position later on that, on one hand, they adopted that M.Sc. Industrial Chemistry would fall within “allied subject”, therefore, treated it to be an eligibility for consideration for the post of Lecturer (Chemistry), however, an arbitrary decision was taken that their candidature will be considered in the last if the candidates having M.Sc. (Chemistry) were not available or not found suitable.

It was also noticed that during the pendency of the writ petition i.e. for the last 5 years, the posts have already been filled up. Since their selection was not under challenge, the relief sought in the writ petition was rendered infructuous.

Taking note of the last submission of the petitioners that a direction be passed that not only the judgment of the Supreme Court be followed in letter and spirit but such ambiguity may not be repeated, the Bench disposed of the writ petition with a direction that Registrar, A.M.U. shall remain cautious in future while publishing advertisements so that it may not create ambiguity and the University must specifically mention the qualification so that all eligible candidates may participate in advertisement.

Cause Title: Amna Khatoon And 2 Others v. Aligarh Muslim University Through Its Vice Chancellor And Another (Neutral Citation: 2025:AHC:36073)

Appearance:

Petitioners: Advocates Mohd Aadil Siddiqui,Tauseef Khan

Respondent: A.S.G.I., Advocates Abrar Ahmad, Shashank Shekhar Singh

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Allahabad High CourtJustice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery

Tulip Kanth

Assistant Editor

Tulip Kanth is an Assistant Editor at Verdictum having over 5 years of experience in the field of legal journalism and editing. She extensively covers judgments of the Supreme Court, High Courts as well as Tribunals. She has previously worked with a legal publishing website where she oversaw the work of other editors and has also created updates on notifications of different Government Ministries. She holds an English Honours Degree from SGTB Khalsa College, Delhi University and has completed her LLB course with specialisation in Corporate Law from Amity University.