' MUHAMMAD ATHAR SAEED, J.---This Civil Petition for Leave to Appeal has been preferred against the judgment dated 14-1-2012 passed by learned Sindh High Court in Constitutional Petition No,D- 2481 of 2010 whereby the petition preferred by the present respondent No,1 was allowed.
2. Brief facts of the case are that respondent No,1 having already obtained the degree of M.A.
Islamic Studies applied to get himself admitted with the petitioner university for M.A. Mass Communication in the evening program for the academic year 2003-2004. The respondent No,1 paid the admission fee of Rs,13,500 each for all the four semesters and he was issued identity card and after completing the .Prescribed course was allowed to sit in the examinations of all the four semesters and he was declared successful in examination having obtained 70.60% marks and securing 1st Division and the name of the respondent No,1 was mentioned at serial No,28 on the list of the successful candidates, but he was refused to be awarded the Degree of Mass Communication on the ground that he was not eligible to be admitted in M.A. Mass Communication as he did not pass his B.Com examination at least in second division.
3. Being aggrieved by this action, the respondent No,1 approached the learned Sindh High Court by filing Constitutional Petition No,D-2481 of 2010 and the learned Sindh High Court through impugned judgment allowed the same. Hence this petition.
4. We have heard Mr. Nadeem Azhar Siddiqui, Advocate Supreme Court appearing for the petitioner-University and the respondent No,1 appearing in person.
5. The main contention of the learned Advocate Supreme Court for the Petitioner-University was that the respondent was not eligible to be admitted to M.A. Mass Communication as he did not fulfil the requirements of the minimum eligibility for admission, which was 2nd division in the graduation examination, as the respondent No,1 had passed his B.Com examination in 3rd Division.
According to the learned counsel, this condition is also reiterated under the head "Eligibility for Admission", whereby the first, condition provides that the admission to Masters Program shall be granted on the basis of academic record at the graduation level. He then referred to Sr. No,18 of the table of Masters Program relating to M.A. Mass Communication which provides the admission criteria to be on the basis of academic record. He reiterated the arguments which he made before the learned High Court and submitted that since the respondent No,1 was not eligible for initial admission in M.A. Mass Communication and was illegally admitted with the connivance of the lower staff of the University, therefore, it does not matter whether he had completed the entire course and passed the examination in flying colours. He could not be awarded a degree as it is a trite law that where the initial action is illegal and invalid, the' entire structure collapses and no right accrues to the respondent No,1 to insist for the grant of degree. He submitted that the matter has to be adjudged legally and not sympathetically as has been done by the learned High Court. He, therefore, prayed that the Petition may be allowed and the order of the learned High Court may be set aside. .6. The respondent No,1 appearing in person strongly opposed the arguments of the learned Advocate Supreme Court for the Petitioner-University and supported the impugned order. He submitted that he has been granted admission in M.A; Mass Communication not on the basis of his academic record at the B.Com level, but on the basis of his academic record in the first Masters Degree, which he obtained in Islamic Studies where he had obtained Second Division having more than 55% marks. He drew our attention to Point No,4 of eligibility of admission, which provides that candidate, already having a Masters degree is eligible for regular admission to the Evening Program for a second Masters degree. He also drew our attention to the Point No,2 of eligibility for admission, which' provides that a candidate must have passed the pre-requisite examination with at least 45% from a recognized Board/University with relevant subjects at intermediate or graduate/postgraduate level. He submitted that for the purpose of. His admission to M.A. Mass Communication, the academic record which is to be .Considered is postgraduate academic record and on this basis he was eligible; therefore, he was legally granted admission and after being allowed to appear in all. The four semesters of the M.A. Mass Communication program and then passing the exams with flying colors without any objection from any quarter about his admission he had acquired a vested right to be granted the degree and the matter of admission even if it is considered that the admission was not properly made, had become a past and closed transaction. He, therefore, prayed that the petition being without merit be dismissed and the judgment of the learned Sindh High Court be maintained.
7. We have examined the case in the light of the arguments of the learned Advocate Supreme Court for the Petitioner-University and the respondent No,1 appearing personally and have carefully perused the records of the case including the impugned judgment of the learned High Court of Sindh.
8. The perusal of the impugned judgment reveals that the learned High Court has after examining the record of the case came to the conclusion that since no objection as to the eligibility was made up to the time of the completion of M.A. Mass Communication program by respondent No,1 with flying colors, therefore, raising the question of eligibility after, the result is unjustified and smacks of mala fide. The learned High Court has also held that once the respondent No,1 had completed first Masters degree and was seeking admission to second Masters degree, the academic record, which was required for his admission to second degree, was the postgraduate record and not graduate record and since he had obtained second division in his Masters, therefore, he had been rightly granted admission.
9. We find ourselves in full agreement with the conclusion drawn by the learned Sindh High Court in the impugned judgment. Even before, us the learned Advocate Supreme Court for the Petitioner- University could not explain as to why the university slept on the eligibility of respondent No,1 to be granted admission for almost two and a half years till he had completed the program with flying colors and his name was mentioned in the list of successful candidates and why the sudden awakening. He could also not state with any amount of certainty whether any action was taken against any of the staff members, who according to him were instrumental in grant of this illegal admission to the respondent No, 1 . We, are therefore, of the considered opinion that the petitioner cannot be punished after more than two and a half years of the alleged illegal admission when this issue was never taken up during the tenure of the program. We, therefore, find no merit in this petition, which is accordingly dismissed and leave to appeal refused.