1 Item No. 96 IN THE HIGH COURT OF MANIPUR AT IMPHAL WP(C) No. 833 of 2021 Ningthoujam Mohendra Singh Petitioner Vs. State of Manipur & 3 ors. Respondents BEFORE HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE AHANTHEM BIMOL SINGH 29.05.2025 Heard Mr. N. Jotendro, learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner; Mrs. L. Monomala, learned G.A. appearing for respondent Nos. 1 & 2; and Mr. I. Denning, learned counsel appearing for respondent Nos. 3 & 4. The present writ petition has been filed assailing the notice dated 01.10.2021 by which the candidature of the petitioner for appointment to the post of Assistant Professor(Zoology) in the Dhanamanjuri University had been rejected. The ground given by the authorities for rejecting the candidature of the petitioner is that the Ph.D. obtained by the petitioner from Chandra Mohon Jha (CMJ) University, Meghalaya in the year 2017 is not a recognized degree on account of the dissolution of the said CMJ University by an order dated 31.03.2014. Mr. N. Jotendro, learned senior counsel, draws the attention of this Court to an order dated 27.02.2017 issued by the Secretariat, Higher & Technical Education Department (At Annexure A/11 of the writ petition) and submitted that by the said order the certificate of M.Phils/Ph.Ds awarded by the Chandra Mohon Jha (CMJ) University, Meghalaya in favour of 8(eight) LAIREN MAYUM INDRAJ EET SINGH Digitally signed by LAIRENMAYU M INDRAJEET SINGH Date: 2025.05.30 13:47:16 +05'30' 2 college teachers mentioned in the said order were treated as legal/genuine/legitimate Certificates in the State of Manipur for the purposes of their services in the Govt./Govt. Aided Colleges. The learned senior counsel further submitted that since the State Government has already declared that the M.Phils/Ph.Ds awarded by the Chandra Mohon Jha (CMJ) University, Meghalaya, as legal/genuine/legitimate Certificates in the State of Manipur for the purposes of their services in the Govt./Govt. Aided Colleges, the rejection of the petitioner candidate on the ground given by the authorities is arbitrary, discriminatory and accordingly liable to be rejected. The learned senior counsel, further submitted that the petitioner is entitled to be treated equally or similarly with those 8(eight) persons mentioned in the said order. Mr. I. Denning, learned counsel appearing for the Dhanamanjuri University(DMU), submitted that the order of the Govt. dated 31.03.2014 dissolving the Chandra Mohon Jha (CMJ) University, Meghalaya has been affirmed by the hon’ble Apex Court in its order dated 13.02.2025 passed in Civil Appeal No(s). 9694 of 2024 ‘CMJ Foundation & ors. Vrs. State of Meghalaya & ors’. The learned counsel further submitted that since the order dated 31.03.2014 issued by the State Government dissolving the CMJ University has been affirmed by the hon’ble Apex Court, the rejection of the petitioner’s candidature by the authorities on the ground given in the impugned order cannot be interfered with as the same is valid. The learned counsel, accordingly, submitted that there is no ground whatsoever for interfering with the decision taken by the competent authorities of the DMU in rejecting the candidature of the Petitioner and the present writ petition is liable to be dismissed as being devoid of merit. I have heard the submission advanced by the learned counsel appearing for the parties at length and also carefully examined the materials available on record. So far as the order dated 27.02.2017 relied on by the learned senior counsel appearing for the petitioner is concerned, it is clearly 3 mentioned in the said order that the degrees of M.Phil/Ph.D obtained by the 8(eight) lecturers mentioned in the said order was obtained during the year 2012-2013 i.e., before the dissolution of the said Chandra Mohon Jha (CMJ) University, Meghalaya, and as such, the petitioner cannot claim that he is similarly situated with those lecturers in as much as the petitioner obtained his Ph.d. only in 2017 after the said university has been dissolved. I have also perused the judgment passed by the hon’ble Apex Court in Civil Appeal No. 9694 of 2024 filed by the CMJ Foundation & ors. and on perusal of the same it is affirmed that the order dated 31.03.2014 issued by the State Government dissolving the CMJ University has been affirmed by the hon’ble Apex Court and as such, this Court is of the considered view that there is no infirmity in the decision taken by the authorities of the Dhanamanjuri University in rejecting the candidature of the petitioner. Accordingly, this Court is not inclined to interfere with the impugned notification dated 01.10.2021. In the result, the present petition is hereby dismissed as being devoid of merit. However, there will be no order as to costs. Earlier interim order stands vacated. JUDGE Indrajeet