Calcutta, Aug. 19 : Even in victory, she faces defeat. Her nine-year-long battle has been won, but it is too late for her to do anything meaningful with it. As Justices Ashok Ganguly and Hrishikesh Banerjee pronounced that she should join the B.Ed course at Gandhi Centenary Memorial College on August 21 - where she had been denied admission since 1992 - the first reaction of 36-year-old Tehmina Khatun was not one of joy, but of futility. One year from now, when she acquires the degree, she will not get a job in any government school. For, in all such institutions, the cut-off age for joining is 35. 'My emotions are mixed at the moment,' Tehmina said after the judgment. 'I will have no use for my degree; my age will disqualify me from joining any government school. Besides, which private institution will give me a job when they learn I have fought such a prolonged court battle? But I am extremely happy that I have finally won my case against the college authorities. I had been denied entry for the wrong reasons.' Tehmina's travails began in 1993, shortly after she married Sukumar Mitra and sought admission to the B.Ed course at Habra's Gandhi Centenary Memorial College. In the written test, she ranked among the top 10 but during the interview, the college authorities asked her why she had not changed her surname. She told them it was a personal matter. When the admission list came out, Khatun's name was not on it. Officially, the authorities informed her that she had been denied admission on the grounds that she could not produce a ration card with the address of her new residence after marriage. The couple took the case to the Barasat munsif court, alleging that the college authorities were prejudiced. The court ruled in her favour, but the college authorities did not relent. Instead, it went on appeal to the court of the Barasat civil judge, which upheld the lower court's judgment. The college once again expressed its inability, saying the academic session had started and it was not possible to admit anyone midway. The following year, 1994, the college refused Tehmina admission again and contested the case in the same court. For the next eight years, the hearing went back and forth till finally, on April 29 this year, the court once again ruled that Tehmina be admitted forthwith in the college. It was then that the college moved the high court. The lengthy proceedings concluded on Monday. The college authorities told the court they would admit Tehmina.