Karnataka high court quashes appointment ofMaharani varsity's acting vice-chancellor
Bengaluru: The high court has quashed Dr BK Meera's appointment as the acting vice-chancellor of Maharani Cluster University in the city. Justice R Nataraj delivered the ruling while partly allowing a petition filed by TM Manjunath, director of the School of Humanities and Liberal Arts at the university, a contender for the post.
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The judge, however, declined Manjunath's request for directing his appointment, stating that the chancellor of universities (governor) maintains the authority to appoint an acting vice-chancellor as per the Karnataka State Universities (KSU) Act, 2000.
The chancellor may consider Manjunath's appointment if he meets the eligibility criteria, the judge added.
Manjunath had contested the March 28 order appointing Meera as acting vice-chancellor, succeeding Dr Ushadevi C.
He highlighted that the previous vice-chancellor's reply dated Oct 23, 2024, included a list of senior-most directors, where his name appeared first, having been appointed as director on Oct 16, 2023.
The chancellor's office defended its decision, citing that Meera, the senior-most zoology professor, was selected to better understand female students' academic and psychological needs, applying section 14(4) of the KSU Act, 2000, which requires women vice-chancellors for women's universities.
Justice Nataraj emphasised that the senior-most dean must become the acting vice-chancellor. The chancellor's discretionary powers do not extend to appointing someone other than a dean/director to this position.
The court noted that the request of the governor's office for senior-most deans/directors did not specify women candidates only. Additionally, no evidence showed the university is exclusively for women, unlike Akkamahadevi University. The notification neither explained why Manjunath was overlooked nor mentioned any irregularities in his directorship appointment.
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