Latest news with #MaharaniClusterUniversity
New Indian Express
24-05-2025
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Karnataka HC cancels appointment of Meera BK as acting V-C of Maharani Cluster University
BENGALURU: The Karnataka High Court quashed the appointment of Dr Meera BK as acting Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Maharani Cluster University by the Governor of Karnataka and Chancellor of Universities Thaawarchand Gehlot. The high court, however, granted liberty to the Chancellor to appoint an acting vice-chancellor in accordance with the law. Justice R Nataraj passed the order recently, while allowing partly the petition filed by Dr TM Manjunath, director of the School of Humanities and Liberal Arts of Maharani Cluster University, questioning the notification dated March 28, 2025, issued by the Chancellor for the appointment of Dr Meera, professor, Department of Zoology, Maharani Cluster University, as the acting VC. She was appointed after the retirement of Dr Ushadevi C as acting VC. The petitioner has also sought direction to the Chancellor to appoint him as acting VC. The court, however, said the claim of the petitioner that he alone should be appointed as acting VC cannot be considered for the simple reason that it is for the Chancellor to exercise discretion to appoint the seniormost person and therefore, this court cannot arrogate to itself the power vested in the Chancellor. Hence, the Chancellor is at liberty to consider appointing an acting VC by Section 16(2) of the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000 and if the petitioner is eligible, the Chancellor may consider appointing the petitioner in accordance with law, the court said. Contending that he is a senior director eligible to be appointed as the acting VC and his name was found at the top of the list of directors sent by the Registrar of the varsity to the Chancellor, Manjunath alleged that the Chancellor, without considering his name, appointed senior most woman professor of the Department of Zoology as acting VC, though she was not even a Director of any school of the varsity. The impugned notification was silent as to why the petitioner was not considered and as to how Dr Meera was more suitable for the post, he argued. However, the counsel representing the Chancellor contended that the university was established to impart quality education to aspiring female students. In furtherance of this objective, the Chancellor intends to better understand the academic and psychological needs of the female students and has appointed Meera as acting V-C. Rejecting the contention of the Chancellor, the court said that the Special Secretary of the Chancellor did not restrict the post to women candidates while writing to the Registrar of the university to send the list of senior most Deans or Directors. Similarly, it was not mentioned in the impugned notification that there was any irregularity or illegality in appointing the petitioner as a Director. Therefore, the Chancellor cannot now supplement reasons to sustain the impugned notification and therefore the notification is in violation of Section 16(2) of the Act, 2000, the court said.
Time of India
24-05-2025
- Politics
- Time of India
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. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now 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.
The Hindu
23-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hindu
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.
