SC endorses UGC’s NET eligibility order

A bench headed by justice KS Radhakrishnan, said courts shall not interfere in matters of education unless there is a violation of statutory provisions. The court said UGC’s notification for the June 2012 NET exam was valid.

The Supreme Court on Thursday upheld the University Grant Commission’s notification for fixing eligibility criteria for candidates to qualify the National Eligibility Test (NET).

A bench headed by justice KS Radhakrishnan, said courts shall not interfere in matters of education unless there is a violation of statutory provisions. The court said UGC’s notification for the June 2012 NET exam was valid.

If the judgment had not gone in favour of the UGC instead of 57, 000 candidates who were declared eligible for lectureship in the June 2012 exam, the Commission would have had to declare over 2.12 lakh candidates eligible.

“The Commission was under tremendous pressure to declare more than two lakh candidates eligible for lectureship. We are happy that the Supreme Court has upheld our decision,” UGC chairman Ved Prakash told HT.

The UGC prepares its final merit list only from those candidates who achieve a minimum threshold level of marks in all the three papers. In June 2012, there was a general cut off for different categories and this had created resentment among some candidates. Some of them moved the court in different states.