The Supreme Court has upheld a Kerala High Court decision that a B.Sc. in Polymer Chemistry is not equivalent to a B.Sc. in Chemistry for recruitment purposes. This ruling comes in response to a case involving a recruitment notification issued by the Kerala Public Service Commission (KPSC) in 2008, which specified that candidates for the High School Teacher position in Physical Science must possess a B.Sc. in Physics, Chemistry, or Home Science, along with a B.Ed. in Physical Science.
In 2008, a candidate with a B.Sc. in Polymer Chemistry and a B.Ed. in Physical Science applied for the position. Her application was rejected on the grounds that her qualifications did not meet the specified criteria. Although she presented a certificate from Calicut University claiming equivalence between her degree and a B.Sc. in Chemistry, it was not accepted.
Following this, the candidate approached the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT), which dismissed her application in 2012. The same year, the Kerala High Court also dismissed her petition challenging the KAT’s decision.
On Tuesday, the Supreme Court reaffirmed the lower courts’ judgments. Justices Hima Kohli and Sandeep Mehta emphasized that determining the equivalence of qualifications falls under the purview of the recruiting authority, not the judiciary. They cited the precedent set in Zahoor Ahmad Rather v. Sheikh Imtiyaz Ahmad (2019), which states that judicial review cannot expand or redefine prescribed qualifications.
The court also referenced Unnikrishnan CV & ors. v. Union of India (2023), highlighting that equivalence is a technical academic matter that must be explicitly stated by an academic body through specific orders or resolutions.
The Supreme Court concluded that the appellant was not qualified for the advertised position, reinforcing the importance of adhering to established qualifications and processes in recruitment.
