Only diploma holders eligible for JE post; BE, BTech can’t apply: HC

Allahabad: The Allahabad high court has ruled that degree holders in engineering cannot be considered for appointment on the post of junior engineers (JEs).
While deciding this important question of law which was referred to it, a three-judge bench comprising Justice Bala Krishna Narayana, Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Pankaj Bhatia were of the view that it is the state government which has the power to prescribe the requisite qualification required for an advertised post and it cannot be a matter for judicial review.
In the present case, the state government while issuing the advertisement for the post of junior engineers fixed minimum qualification for the candidates as diploma in engineering. Thus, a candidate having degree in engineering, i.e., Bachelor of Engineering (BE) or Bachelor of Technology (BTech) was not allowed to participate in the recruitment process.
Hence a bench of petitions was filed by candidates Deepak Singh and others, having degree in engineering, who were not allowed to participate in the selection process for the post of junior engineers.
Subsequently, the matter was referred to three-judge bench to decide this important question of law.
The three-judge bench, after hearing all parties concerned at length, gave the above ruling. It observed: “Degree holders are held to be ineligible to participate in the selection process of junior engineer in the light of the advertisement issued.”