UoM professor files writ petition against Registrar

The legal battle against the appointment of C Basavaraju, as Registrar (Administration) of the University of Mysore, has continued with a professor of the varsity, filing yet another writ petition.

R Rajanna, Professor, Department of Studies in History at the varsity, has filed the writ petition, contending that Basavaraju had not completed the mandatory requirements for a Professor to be appointed as Registrar, and that the appointment was against University statutes.

According to Section 17 of Karnataka Universities Act, 2000, the State government can appoint either Group-A officer or a member of the faculty of any University, who has been working as a professor for at least five years. In the case of Basavaraju, he had not completed the mandatory requirement of five years in the post of Professor, as on the date of his appointment as Registrar, the petition read.

The petitioner has also alleged that Mysore University Employees (Probation) Statutes, 1983, was violated while appointing Basavaraju. “No declaration of Probationary Period (PP) of Basavaraju was made by the varsity prior to his appointment, rendering him ineligible to be considered to the post of Registrar.”

It can be recalled that Basavaraju’s PP was declared in a dramatic fashion, as he had filed a writ petition against the varsity, in which he too was one of the respondents.

Basavaraju was appointed to the University in 2007 as professor. Soon, allegations surfaced that some of the appointments made in the year 2007, were done illegally, prompting the State government to constitute a single judge bench to probe the issue.
Despite the recommendations of the panel, PP of Basavaraju and other professors were declared by UoM, attracting the wrath of elected representatives and activists.
DH News Service