HC dismisses case against Anna University V-C

The petitioner has not substantiated his case, say judges

The Madras High Court on Tuesday dismissed a writ petition filed by activist ‘Traffic’ K.R. Ramaswamy accusing Anna University Vice-Chancellor (V-C) M.K. Surappa of being ineligible to hold the post as per University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations.

Justices M. Sathyanarayanan and P. Rajamanickam dismissed the case at the admission stage without issuing notices to the government and the Vice-Chancellor. They said the prayer was highly misconceived and the petitioner had not substantiated his case.

In his affidavit, the activist said Mr. Surappa had served as the Director of the Indian Institute of Technology, Ropar, for six years between 2009 and 2015 and as the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering at the Indian Institute of Science during 2016-17. Claiming that both these posts were equivalent to the post of a Vice-Chancellor, he said UGC regulations do not permit an individual to hold a post equivalent to that of a Vice-Chancellor for more than two terms.