Karnataka HC cancels appointment of Meera B.K. as acting V-C to Maharani Cluster University
The High Court of Karnataka has quashed the Governor's order of appointing Meera B.K. as acting Vice-Chancellor of Maharani Cluster University, Bengaluru, while pointing out that she was not the senior-most dean/director to qualify to be in-charge V-C of the varsity as per the provisions of the Karnataka Universities Act, 2000.
Justice R. Nataraj passed the order while partly allowing a petition filed by T.M. Manjunath, who is the senior-most dean/director in the university. The petitioner had questioned the March 28, 2025, order of the Governor in appointing Ms. Meera as acting V-C contrary to Section 16(2) of the act.
'When a statute requires a particular act to be done in a particular manner, it has to be done in that manner or not at all. When Section 16(2) of the Act, 2000, mandates that whenever a vacancy in the office of V-C remains unfilled, it is the senior-most dean of the university who may be appointed to act as the V-C. The Chancellor cannot arrogate to himself the power to appoint anyone else to act as the V-C,' the court observed.
Pointing out that though Ms. Meera was earlier appointed as a director of the university, she did not take the charge as the post of director but remained as a professor in the Department of Zoology, the court said that she was not even a director to be considered for holding the post of acting V-C as per the law.
While refusing to accept the contentions of the chancellor and the State government that the senior most woman professor was selected as an acting V-C as the varsity is primarily catering to the girl students, the court said that this 'contention does not stand to reason as the Special Secretary to the Governor/Chancellor when calling for the list of senior most deans/directors of the university did not restrict it to women candidates.'
'This apart, there is nothing on record to establish that the Maharani Cluster University is a women's university, where the V-C should be a woman as in the case of Akkamahadevi University,' the court pointed out.
Though the court declined to direct the chancellor to consider only the petitioner [Mr. Manjunath] as acting V-C, as it is the discretion of the chancellor to make an appointment to the post, it gave liberty to the Chancellor to consider the petitioner, if he is found eligible, to the post while appointing acting V-C as per Section 16(2) of the act.
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