• Petitions are ‘Copy Paste’ and lack ‘bona fide’; Petitioners haven’t approached with clean hands, hearts and objectives.
• Court makes critical observation against the petitioners.

Bengaluru: Citing ‘copy paste petitions’ and lack of ‘bona fide,’ Karnataka High Court (HC) has dismissed two Public Interest Litigations (PILs) challenging the appointment of Prof. S. Vidyashankar as the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU), Belagavi.

A Division Bench of HC comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B. Varale and Justice Krishna S. Dixit observed that the petitions are ‘Copy Paste’ petitions couched in verbatim duplicate language and that the petitioners have not approached the Court with clean hands, clean hearts and clean objectives.

The Court further observed that ‘There has been an unexplained delay albeit short on the part of petitioners questioning the subject’s (Prof. S. Vidyashankar) appoint-ment to a public office. To speak succinctly, VC is the ‘Conscience Keeper of the University’ vide the judgement of Supreme Court in Marathwada University V/s Seshrao Balwant Rao Chavan case, whilst examining the appointment of such a high functionary, this aspect cannot be lost sight of. After all, Mahatma Gandhi said  “Means are as important as the ends.”

Prof. Vidyashankar was appointed as VC of VTU on Sept. 24, 2022. The first petition was filed by Prof. B. Shivaraj, a former Acting VC of University of Mysore (UoM), on Oct. 31, 2022 and the second petition was filed by Dr. K. Mahadev on Nov. 21, 2022 and were represented by the same advocate in the Court.

Interestingly, the High Court Bench has also noted that ‘Prof. Shivaraj has not disclosed any details related to the multiple petitions filed by him against the disciplinary proceedings initiated against him.’