The Madras High Court has directed T.N. Seshan, interim administrator of Pachaiyappa’s Trust Board, to complete the selection process for filling up vacancies that arose in its colleges until 2012.
Nine guest lecturers of the colleges belonging to the Trust filed a petition, seeking a direction to the directorate of collegiate education and the Trust management to initiate recruitment process for filling up the posts of assistant professors.
They also sought consequential direction to appoint them as lectures on permanent basis.
They said they possessed qualifications as per UGC norms and had been working continuously for four to ten years.
In its last advertisement, the Trust said there were 125 vacancies, and since the posts had not been filled up, the lecturers filed the present petition seeking for a direction to appoint them.
Disposing of the petition, Justice K. Chandru said, “In the absence of the petitioners going through regular recruitment process, they cannot seek regularisation merely because they have put in a few years of service.”
Last October, the court appointed Mr. Seshan, former chief election commissioner, as the interim administrator of the Trust until a new board of trustees assumed office after elections.
When the matter came up for hearing, M. Devendran, standing counsel for the Trust, said the interim administrator was in the process of implementing the order for recruiting candidates for vacant posts and also sought to issue suitable directions for completing the process.
Justice Chandru asked the interim administrator to complete the selection process for filling up the vacancies that arose until 2012 within six months.
He should strictly adhere to appointment norms as per UGC guidelines and various government orders and also adhere to the communal roster as required under the statutory rules, the Court said.
