JABALPUR, India, June 9 -- Madhya Pradesh High Court issued the following judgment/order on May 7:

1. The appellant challenges the order dated 02.11.2016 (Annexure P1) passed by the Maulana Azad National Institute of Technology, Bhopal (hereinafter 'MANIT'), whereby the appellant's appointment/promotion/redesignation as Associate Professor with effect from 09.10.2006 was revoked and he was directed to be reverted to the post of Assistant Professor. The writ petition assailing the said order was dismissed by the learned Single Judge vide order dated 19.10.2023 in W.P. No. 21349/2016, and the consequent Review Petition No. 1255/2023 was also dismissed vide order dated 10.07.2025. The present Appeal impugns both the aforementioned orders.

2. Briefly stated, the facts material to the controversy are as follows. The appellant was appointed as Lecturer in MANIT and was subsequently promoted/redesignated as Associate Professor vide order dated 21.06.2005 (Annexure P-2) with effect from 09.10.2003, with financial benefit operative from 20.06.2005. The said order incorporated a note with the effect that employees not possessing a Ph.D. degree would be required to obtain the same within seven years from the date of promotion to the post of Assistant Professor. A chronological recital of the material events is set out hereunder:

(i) 21.06.2005: MANIT issues order promoting/redesignating the appellant as Associate Professor with effect from 09.10.2003, with financial benefit from 20.06.2005. The order noted the seven-year Ph.D. requirement.

(ii) 31.12.2008: MHRD issued a circular prescribing eligibility criteria for appointments/promotions in educational institutions the applicability of which to NITs subsequently became the source of controversy.

(iii) 18.08.2009: MHRD issued a communication mandating Ph.D. as a compulsory qualification for promotional posts, admittedly issued after the appellant's promotion in 2006. (iv) 08.10.2014: MHRD issued communication (F.No. 3-9/2014-TS-III) directing MANIT to revoke all regular appointments and promotions made without adequate qualifications (Ph.D.) with immediate effect, on the premise that the UGC/MHRD circular dated 31.12.2008 was not applicable to NITs/CFTIs.

(iv) 02.11.2016: MANIT passed the impugned order (Annexure P1) revoking the appellant's designation as Associate Professor from the date of conferment i.e. 09.10.2006, notwithstanding that his Ph.D. at Victoria University remained pending.

The foregoing chronology discloses that:

(a) the promotion in 2006 was validly conferred under the AICTE Career Advancement Scheme (CAS) norms then in force;

(b) the NIT Statutes themselves came into force only on 05.06.2007;

(c) the MHRD communications of 2009 and 2014 forming the stated basis for revocation were posterior to the promotion;

(d) the MHRD directive dated 08.10.2014 was directed against promotions effected under Institute Order dated 20.08.2010 in respect of twelve specific faculty members, and the appellant's name did not figure in that list; and

(e) several other similarly situated faculty members were not subjected to any such action.

*Rest of the document can be viewed at: (https://mphc.gov.in/storage/upload/jabalpur/MPHCJB/2025/WA/2713/WA_2713_2025_FinalOrder_07-05-2026_digi.pdf)

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