Can bar overqualified person from job: SC

NEW DELHI: Sometimes overqualification becomes a disqualification. At a time when highly qualified people, including PhD holders, are competing for class IV govt jobs, the Supreme Court has said a person could be disqualified for a job if he holds a qualification beyond the maximum prescribed qualification.

Noting that an employer's need to have the right people at the right place does not always mean those higher qualified, a bench of Justices Ahsanuddin Amanullah and R Mahadevan said there is nothing wrong in govt's decision putting a cap on the qualification for a post and disqualifying those holding higher degrees.

"The rationale behind prescribing an upper limit of qualification is both reasonable and equitable, to provide employment opportunities to persons who, owing to circumstances of life, could not pursue higher education," the bench said.

"The State, as a model employer, is justified in reserving certain categories of posts for such persons so that they are not compelled to compete with more highly qualified candidates against whom they would ordinarily stand little chance of selection. Such a policy has consistently been upheld by the courts. Thus, when the post was specifically intended for candidates possessing lower educational qualifications, permitting a person with higher qualifications to secure such employment would necessarily result in depriving a genuinely eligible and deserving candidate of the opportunity," the bench added.

It passed the order while upholding termination of job of a bank employee on the ground that he was graduate at the time of joining while the job specification stipulated the candidate should possess the qualification of passing 8th standard, but should not have passed 12th standard or acquired qualification.

"..though we may have sympathy for the respondent, the conduct attributed to him and the settled position of law leave us with no option but to interfere with the impugned judgment."