Karnataka HC quashes BU’s appointment of assistant professor

Notes that procedure adopted was contrary to special rules

The Karnataka High Court has quashed the appointment of an assistant professor after finding that the procedure adopted was contrary to the Special Rules under which Bangalore University (BU) conducted the recruitment.

Rule 6 of the Special Rules 2001 mandates that candidates between the age group of 18 and 29 should not be considered when eligible candidates are available between 29 and 40.

The 34-year-old petitioner had challenged the appointment of a 25-year-old candidate, the only other cleared by the selection committee.

The recruitment was initiated under the Karnataka State Civil Services (unfilled vacancies reserved for persons belonging to the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes) (Special Recruitment) Rules, 2001.

The BU had called for applications in March 2018 to fill up the backlog vacancies in various disciplines.

The petition challenged the appointment of an assistant professor in the Department of English. After the selection process, BU notified both the candidates in a provisional eligibility list and
finally appointed the 25-year-old candidate.

Citing a Supreme Court order, the varsity contended that a candidate taking a chance to participate in the selection process cannot turn around and challenge the process and the appointment.

Justice M Nagaprasanna said such a principle is not a panacea. It was noticed that the selecting authorities often try to take shelter under the plea of estoppels against the candidates after committing glaring illegalities in the process, the court said.

On the challenge to the appointment, the court said since both the candidates were found eligible and that the consideration ought to have happened in terms of Rule 6 of the Special Rules.

Quoting a judgement rendered more than a century ago, which were followed by the Apex Court in the case of Babu Verghese v/s Bar Council of Kerala, the court said if a statute prescribes a particular mode of operation, it shall be done in that manner or not at all.

If no other candidate aged between 29 and 40 is more meritorious than the petitioner, BU should consider the petitioner’s case within three weeks, the court said.