Kerala HC Refuses To Stay Dr. M.V.Narayanan’s Removal As Vice Chancellor Of Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University
The Kerala High Court declined to grant a stay on Dr. M.V. Narayanan’s removal as the Vice Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit.
Dr. M.V. Narayanan was directed to vacate the office of the Vice Chancellor after his appointment was found to be void ab initio. The argument advanced against the removal was that the Vice Chancellor could only be removed by the procedure under Section 8(3) of the General Clauses Act and that not having been done, no order could have been passed directing the removal of the Vice Chancellor.
A Single Bench of Justice Mohammed Nias C.P. observed, “The continuance of the petitioner as Vice Chancellor consequent to a selection that is totally contrary to the statutory provision referred above and falling in the teeth of the judgments of the Supreme Court, cannot be permitted. Accordingly, I am not inclined to grant a stay of operation of Ext.P11 in WP(C)No. 10667/2024, as regards Dr.M.V.Narayanan, the Vice Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, and the request for an interim order stay of operation, is hereby rejected.”
Advocate V.M.Krishnakumar represented the petitioner, while Advocate S.Prasanth appeared for the respondents.
Another issue for consideration before the Court was the appointment of Dr M.K.Jayaraj by the Vice Chancellor which was declared void ab initio after it was discovered that the constitution of the Search Committee was not in terms of the UGC Regulations 2018.
It was argued that determination of the illegality of the appointment cannot be made by any administrative authority, in this case, the Chancellor. It was the Chancellor who selected the current Vice Chancellor from among the panel of names, and therefore, the Chancellor now could not be permitted to sit in decision on the correctness of the selection process.
The Court stated that “the appointment of the Vice Chancellors of the Universities must be in terms of the UGC regulations 2018, all that was relegated was to consider on the legality of the show cause notices and also on the merits of the alleged violation of the UNGC Regulations 2018.”
Consequently, the Court stayed the operation of the order regarding Dr.M.K.Jayaraj and observed that “the further question as to whether the Chancellor can declare the appointment of the Vice Chancellor made by him as void ab initio also requires to be adjudicated in the writ petition.”
Cause Title: DR. M.K. Jayaraj v. The Chancellor, University Of Calicut & Ors.
Appearance:
Petitioner: Advocates V.M.Krishnakumar and P.R.Reena
Respondents: Advocates S.Prasanth, P.C.Sasidharan, and S.Krishnamoorthy