The appointment of a bureaucrat as the Vice-Chancellor of the country’s premier Forest Research Institute Deemed to be University (FRIDU) in Dehradun has been challenged before the Delhi High Court by a plea claiming that it was in contravention of the University Grants Commission (UGC) rules.
IFS officer
The petition has sought to quash the appointment of Dr. Savita, an Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer, as the Vice-Chancellor of FRIDU, claiming that she did not have the ‘requisite qualification’.
The plea filed by Hilaluddin, a former scientist with the Indian Council of Forestry Research and Education (ICFRE), has claimed that the UGC’s minimum academic qualification for the post of Vice-Chancellor is a Ph.D degree and the candidate should have spent a minimum of 10 years as professor in a university.
‘Not a scientist’
It added that Dr. Savita, also the Director of FRI, Dehradun, has never held the post of a professor at any university nor was she posted as scientist in any academic institution.
During the hearing on the petition last month, the counsel appearing for the FRIDU Chancellor and V-C told the High Court that “there is no post of Vice-Chancellor of the Forest Research Institute, a deemed university and only the Director, Forest Research Institute is designated as a Vice-Chancellor”.
Next hearing on Oct. 16
The High Court has asked the counsel to bring the documents which showed that there is no post of V-C before the next date of hearing on October 16.
Mr. Hilaluddin, in a petition filed through advocate Gyanant Kumar Singh, has claimed that the appointment of Dr. Savita as the Vice-Chancellor in violation of UGC regulations was “illegally regularised through a resolution on March 30, 2016, by the FRIDU Board of Management, which included Dr. Savita”.
The petition claimed that the Board’s resolution stood vitiated with the participation of Dr. Savita as Member Secretary in the meeting which was considering her case.
It further alleged that “prior permission of the UGC was not obtained by the authorities of FRIDU before diluting academic qualification of the Vice-Chancellor and altering structure of its Board of Management as mandated by the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be University) Regulations 2010”.
The plea has sought direction for termination of appointment of Dr. Savita from the post of Vice-Chancellor of FRIDU and filling up the post in a time-bound manner in accordance with the UGC regulations.
