A Division Bench of the High Court has declared that Babu Sebastian is unqualified to hold the post of Vice Chancellor, Mahatma Gandhi University.
The Bench headed by Chief Justice Antony Dominic passed the verdict on Monday while allowing a quo warranto writ petition filed by Premkumar T.R. of Kochi against the appointment of Mr. Sebastian.
The Bench disqualified Mr. Sebastian mainly on the ground that the composition of the selection committee was flawed.
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Panel members
The name of Mr. Sebastian had been recommended by a selection committee consisting of Bharat Bhushan, the then Chief Secretary; Balaram, a nominee of the UGC and Director of Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru; and Benny Behanan, MLA, nominated in his capacity as member of both the Senate and Syndicate.
The petitioner contended that as per UGC regulations, the nominee of the Syndicate should have eminence in the sphere of higher education and should not have any connection with the university or its affiliated college.
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Mr. Behanan being both a member of the Senate and Syndicate of the university should not have been made part of the selection committee. The Bench observed that there was no material, particularly the details of qualifications, to hold that Mr. Behanan was a person of eminence in the sphere of higher education. He was in fact connected with the university. Therefore, the constitution of the committee had been in violation of the UGC regulations.
Mr. Sebastian, an Associate Professor of Malayalam at St. Thomas College, Pala, did not have 10 years of experience as university professor, a mandatory qualification. The alternative qualification was 10 years of experience in equivalent post in a research and/or academic administrative organisation.
Mr. Sebastian had claimed that he had worked for 10 years and nine months as Director, State Institute of Educational Technology (SIET), Kerala.
The petitioner said that SIET under the General Education Department did not engage in any programme of higher education or research.
The basic qualification for the Director of SIET was only graduation, the petitioner contended.
The court held that the post of Director, SIET, was not equal to the post of professor in a university.