In Brief
A private engineering college society challenged a High Court order granting higher pay scales and Associate Professor designation to certain teachers lacking Ph.D. qualifications. The Supreme Court held that Ph.D. is a mandatory qualification for the higher pay band prescribed by AICTE (All India Council for Technical Education) since 2000. Teachers appointed after the Ph.D. requirement who failed to obtain it within seven years cannot claim the benefits. However, teachers appointed before 2000 (when Ph.D. was not mandatory) and those who subsequently earned their Ph.D. are entitled to the higher pay scale. The Court upheld AICTE's authority to prescribe qualifications and deferred to expert statutory bodies in educational matters.
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