Annulment: No decision by varsity syndicate

Violation in appointments alleged

The Syndicate of the University of Mysore, which met on Monday, did not take any decision on the State Government order to annul the appointments of over 100 professors, readers and lecturers, appointed during the year 2006-07.

Opposing the action of the varsity, several organisations, under the aegis of Vishwavidyalaya Ulisi Horaata Samiti will stage a protest in front of Crawford Hall, on Tuesday.

One of the agendas of the varsity Syndicate was to declare the Probationary Period (PP) of the said employees, following a High Court order. However, the department of Higher Education had issued an order to annul the appointments made in 2006-07, on June 18.
No action

K S Rangappa, Vice-Chancellor, University of Mysore, said, the varsity received the department’s order “only at 10.45 am on Monday, minutes before the Syndicate meeting”. “I conveyed the same to the University Syndicate, which decided to write to the High Court that the PP could not be declared, following the annulment order of Higher Education department,” he said.

Meanwhile, the staffers, whose appointments was said to be “illegal” by a one man commission, headed by retired judge H Rangavittalachar, succeeded in getting a stay order from the High Court, against the government order.

The petitioners had contended that their appointments were ‘lawful’, and was in accordance with the UGC guidelines.

The government should come up with a list of persons, whose appointments were illegal, rather than issuing the annulment order, en masse, was among the pleas of the petitions, a petitioner, under condition of anonymity, said.

Delay tactics

N S Gopinath, former Syndicate member of the varsity, contended that though the government order was issued on June 18, the varsity authorities employed delay tactics to ensure that persons whose appointments were annulled could approach the court. “The varsity is neglecting the government order by not taking any decision. Their actions are against the Karnataka State Universities (KSU) Act,” he said.

Speaking on the appointments made in 2006-07, he said, there was total violation of norms in the appointments. “There might be eligible persons who were appointed. But, there were lapses during the appointment process,” he said.

He demanded that the State government should amend the KSU and reduce the powers vested with the vice-chancellor, such as appointing powers.

K S Shivaramu of the samiti contended that the varsity had prolonged the implementation of the government order to help persons whose appointments were annulled. “The VC should have immediately implemented the order. The government should not tolerate such violation of its orders,” he said.