The Madras High Court on Thursday issued a writ of quo warranto and set aside the appointment of P.P. Chellathurai last year as the Vice-Chancellor of the Madurai Kamaraj University on the ground that the proceedings of the search committee, that was constituted for selecting qualified candidates, were flawed.
Allowing a public interest litigation petition, the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M. Sundar pointed out that two of the members of the search committee had complained that there were no meaningful deliberations and that they were forced to accept the candidate identified by the convenor.
New search panel
Further, taking note of the fact that a criminal case was also pending against Mr. Chellathurai, the judges set aside the appointment and ordered constitution of a new search committee (comprising Senate, Syndicate and Chancellor nominees) for selecting a panel of three names for appointment as the Vice-Chancellor of the university. The new search committee was ordered to make its recommendations in accordance with the Madurai Kamaraj University Act of 1965 and all other applicable statutes after due deliberation, consultations and discussions amongst its members and the convenor, and gave liberty to Mr. Chellathurai also to apply if he wished to do so.
The judges directed the search committee to evaluate his candidature, if he applies, uninfluenced by the present court proceedings.
