Degree in engineering not equivalent to diploma: HK

LUCKNOW The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court held that a degree in engineering is not equivalent to diploma and hence petitioners are not eligible to participate in recruitment for a post of junior engineer. In view of the aforesaid, the court dismissed a petition filed by Graduate Engineering Students’ Welfare Association challenging the employment rules of junior engineers.

The judgment was passed on April 20 by a division bench of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Manish Kumar on a petition filed by the Society for the Welfare of Graduate Engineering Students by petitioners Arti Sharma and eight others.

The petitioners challenged the vicissitudes of 13 service rules of different departments under the State of Uttar Pradesh relating to service conditions of junior engineers. They also challenged the advertisement issued by the UP Subordinate Service Selection Commission dated March 7, 2024 for recruitment to the post of junior engineer.

The grievance raised by the petitioners in the plea was with regard to eligibility conditions prescribed in the impugned advertisement. According to the petitioners, in clause 6 of the said advertisement, the eligibility was prescribed, which was as follows:- “that the applicant must be a civil engineer with three years diploma from the UP Technical Council or an equivalent degree as prescribed by the State of UP.”

The petitioners’ counsel submitted that all the petitioners have a degree of B Tech from various institutions and should be declared eligible for participation in the said recruitment process for the post of junior engineer (civil) and other equivalent posts.

The court said: “Diploma in engineering and graduate in engineering cannot be held in the same channel and also that graduate in engineering cannot be considered to meet the qualifications, which are prescribed for the award of diploma. We therefore have no hesitation in holding that the exclusion of degree holders from the zone of consideration in respect of the advertisement in question meets the test of the state court if the latter meets the court case. and others v. Deep Chandra Tewari and another.”

“We are also of the considered view that the degree in engineering is not equivalent to diploma nor is there any government order and consequently petitioners are not eligible to participate in recruitment for post of junior engineer. In view of the aforesaid discussions, the writ petition stands dismissed,” the court ordered.

UP Diploma Engineers Mahasangh provincial president HN Mishra and Diploma Engineers Sangh president ND Dwivedi welcomed the court’s decision. “The matter was of recruitment of 4,612 posts of junior engineers (civil) in various departments including PWD, irrigation, rural engineering, UP State Bridge Corporation,” said Dwivedi.