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Synopsis

The Allahabad High Court has directed Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) to eliminate ambiguities in its recruitment advertisements for faculty positions. Court held that AMU had failed to adhere to a 2009 Supreme Court judgment regarding the eligibility criteria for the post of Lecturer (Chemistry), thereby creating unnecessary confusion for candidates.

The petition, filed by three candidates—Amna Khatoon, Dr. Mohd. Azfar Shaida, and Dr. Syed Md. Humayun Akhter—challenged AMU’s recruitment process for the post of Lecturer (Chemistry) advertised in 2019 and 2020. The petitioners contended that their qualification, M.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry, should be considered an “allied subject” to Chemistry, making them eligible for the position.

Notably, a 2009 Supreme Court ruling in Mohd. Sohrab Khan v. Aligarh Muslim University & Ors. clarified that unless explicitly stated in the advertisement, a candidate with an M.Sc. in Industrial Chemistry could not be considered eligible for a faculty position in Chemistry. The Supreme Court had directed AMU to specify the exact qualifications required for such positions in future advertisements.

Despite this directive, AMU’s advertisements in 2019 and 2020 continued to use vague terminology such as “concerned/relevant/allied subject,” without clearly defining whether Industrial Chemistry fell within these categories. The university later issued a corrigendum in November 2019, citing the Supreme Court’s ruling and asserting that M.Sc. Industrial Chemistry was not equivalent to M.Sc. Chemistry. However, in a 2021 meeting, AMU paradoxically declared Industrial Chemistry as an allied subject, albeit with a condition that such candidates would only be considered if no applicants from the pure Chemistry stream were available.

Criticizing AMU’s inconsistent stance, the high court observed that the university had “perpetuated ambiguity” rather than clarifying the eligibility criteria. Court held that this approach was arbitrary and prejudicial to candidates, potentially dissuading qualified applicants from participating in the selection process.

While the court acknowledged that the disputed positions had already been filled and the petitioners’ claims had become infructuous, it directed AMU to ensure absolute clarity in future recruitment advertisements.

"This writ petition is disposed of with a direction that judgment of Supreme Court in Mohd. Sohrab Khan (supra) shall be followed in its letter and spirit. Registrar, A.M.U. shall remain cautious in future while publishing advertisement that it may not to 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," the bench of Justice Saurabh Shyam Shamshery ordered.

Case Title: Amna Khatoon And 2 Others Vs. Aligarh Muslim University Through Its Vice Chancellor And Another