'Is Ph.D Equal To Post Graduation?' : Supreme Court Stays Delhi HC Judgment Quashing Appointment Of NCISM Chairperson

The Supreme Court on Tuesday (June 10) stayed the judgment of the Delhi High Court which quashed the appointment of Vaidya Jayant Yeshwant Deopujari as the Chairperson of the National Commission for Indian System of Medicine (NCISM).

A bench comprising Justice Prashant Kumar Mishra and Justice Manmohan passed the interim order while issuing notice on the Special Leave Petitions filed by Deopujari and the NCISM challenging the High Court's judgment pronounced on June 6.

The bench observed that since Deopujari is due to demit office today, the High Court's judgment is being stayed so that he is not deprived of pension and other retiral benefits.

The Supreme Court observed during the hearing that it will consider the question whether Deopujari's Ph.D qualification can be treated as equivalent to the statutorily prescribed qualification of post graduate degree.

"The question is whether his Ph.D is comparable to post-graduate," Justice Mishra observed.

The High Court bench comprising Chief Justice DK Upadhyay and Justice Tushar Rao Gedela passed the judgment in the petitions filed by Dr.Ved Prakash Tyagi and Dr. Raghunandan Sharam seeking a writ of quo warranto to quash the appointment of Deopujari on the ground that he did not have the eligibility criteria mandated by the statute.

The High Court held that Deopujari did not have a postgraduate qualification in any of the disciplines of the Indian System of Medicine and hence did not meet the eligibility criteria under Section 4(2) of the NCISM Act, 2020.

Though Deopujari has a PhD qualification, the High Court held that since it was granted directly after graduation and not after post-graduation, he cannot be regarded as having a postgraduate qualification.

"When we consider the expression „Post-Graduate Degree‟ occurring in Section 4(2) of the NCISM Act, 2020, we are of the opinion that the Post-Graduate Degree in this provision shall mean a degree awarded after completion of certain period/ course of study undertaken by a person who already has a graduation degree for the reason that Ph.D is not an educational qualification; rather it is a research qualification. It is further to be noticed that a research scholar does not have to undergo any regular course, but he has to undergo research work. For a Ph.D degree no regular course of study is generally prescribed nor a candidate has to appear in any traditional examination in which minimum standards are fixed. The Ph.D degree is awarded to a scholar as a recognition of his research work on a particular topic," the High Court observed.

The High Court opined that "every degree awarded by a university after graduation cannot be termed to be a “post-graduation qualification” for the reason that in the domain of higher education in our country „Post-Graduate Degree‟ has acquired a special meaning and significance and post-graduate degree means a Master‟s Degree like M.A.,"

Case : VAIDYA JAYANT YASHWANT DEOPUJARI VS. VED PRAKASH TYAGI | DIARY NO. - 32061/2025 and NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR INDIAN SYSTEM OF MEDICINE VS. VED PRAKASH TYAGI DIARY NO. - 32087/2025