Big blow to degree holders, big order of High Court: No degree in junior engineer recruitment, only diploma will do.

Lucknow: B.Tech and BE degree holders dreaming of becoming Junior Engineer (JE) in Uttar Pradesh have received a severe blow from the Lucknow bench of Allahabad High Court. The court has made it clear that only diploma holders will be able to apply for the recruitment of junior engineers. The court has completely rejected the petition of the degree holders in which they had demanded to consider themselves eligible for this recruitment.

What is the whole matter?

The controversy started with a recruitment advertisement released on March 7, 2024. In this advertisement, the mandatory qualification for the post of Junior Engineer was ‘Three Year Engineering Diploma’. Graduate Engineer Welfare Association and many other degree holders had filed a petition in the High Court challenging this advertisement. His argument was that he has a higher degree (B.Tech/BE) than Diploma, hence it is wrong to keep him out of this recruitment process.

Why did the court reject the demand?

The division bench of Justice Alok Mathur and Justice Manish Kumar made important observations while hearing the case. The court said that degree and diploma are two completely different educational qualifications. Unless an official order is issued by the government, both of them cannot be considered equal.

The court also made it clear that the recruitment agency has full right to decide what qualification it requires for which post. The court cannot interfere in such policy decisions unless it is against the rules.

The argument of higher qualifications did not work

During the hearing, the petitioners argued that they were more educated and qualified than the diploma holders, hence they should get a chance. He also cited the old decisions of the Supreme Court in his favor. However, the High Court found that the circumstances of the cases being referred to were different from those of the present recruitment.

Finally, the court clearly ordered that since no government order currently exists recognizing the degree as equivalent to a diploma, candidates holding degrees are not entitled to appear in this specific recruitment process. After this decision, the way has now been cleared for junior engineer recruitment in the state, in which only candidates with diploma will be in the race.