Bengaluru; Even as the State-Government appointed Search Panel headed by former Bengaluru CMR University Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof. M.S. Shivakumar recommended three names for the University of Mysore (UoM) VC’s post, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday issued an interim stay on the new VC appointment process.
The Panel had recommended the names of UoM Computer Science Department Dean Prof. D.S. Guru, Head of UoM Psychology Department Prof. G. Venkatesh Kumar and Physics faculty of University of Hyderabad Prof. Sharath Ananthamurthy.
A single Judge Vacation Bench of the HC comprising Justice K.S. Hemalekha issued the stay order while hearing a writ petition filed by UoM acting VC Prof. H. Rajashekar on Thursday.
Prof. Rajashekar, who was one of the aspirants for the post, had moved the High Court seeking a stay on the appointment of the UoM VC. When the petition came up for hearing, advocate Akkamahadevi Hiremath, appearing for Prof. Rajashekar, argued that Prof. Rajashekar was serving as acting VC and had all the qualifications for getting the post. Also, there was no enquiry going on against him at present and in the past as well. The Panel appointed by the Government had ignored the qualification of Prof. Rajashekar while recommending the names to the Government, Akkamahadevi maintained and prayed the Court for granting a stay on the selection process.
The Court, upon hearing the arguments, passed an interim stay order on the UoM VC selection process and also issued notices to the respondents — The Principal Secretary of Higher Education Department, the UoM Registrar and the Search Panel Head, while adjourning further hearing in the case.
This post was published on December 24, 2022 6:45 pm