The Supreme Court has stayed the implementation of a Madras High Court decision that the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of the Puducherry Technological University was illegal.
A Bench headed by Chief Justice of India DY Chandrachud issued notice to the Secretary to the Chancellor, Puducherry Technological University, on a petition filed by S. Mohan, whose appointment as Vice Chancellor was in question.
Dr. Mohan was represented by senior advocate Nidhesh Gupta and advocates G. Balaji and Jyotika Malhotra. The stay would operate till further orders of the apex court.
The High Court, in its decision on December 19 last year, had concluded that the appointment of the petitioners was illegal on the ground that a nominee of the University Grants Commission (UGC) Chairman was not included in the search committee as per the UGC Regulations of 2018.
The petition argued whether the UGC Regulations, a subordinate piece of legislation, would prevail over the “complete code” of the Puducherry Technological University Act, a Central law.
Dr. Mohan submitted that he was duly qualified and eligible to hold the post as per the provisions of the Act as well as the UGC Regulations of 2018.
He said the Act prescribed for a “transparent, objective and competitive selection process”.
The petition questioned whether the non-inclusion of the nominee of the Chairman of the UGC would per se invalidate the constitution of the search committee in accordance with the Act.
The petition urged the apex court to determine whether the provision of the UGC Regulations, which provided for the inclusion of the nominee of the Chairman of the UGC in the search committee, was directory rather than a mandatory requirement.
