Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court struck down over 100 appointments to posts of principals in PG and degree colleges across Uttar Pradesh which had been challenged as being "improper and arbitrary", and directed the state to "frame appropriate guidelines" for filling up the posts which fall vacant.
A Division Bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and Sunita Agrawal passed the order on a bunch of writ petitions filed by Karuna Nidhan Upadhyay and others who had challenged a total of 156 appointments vide selection lists dated May 15, 2007, June 30, 2008 and July 02, 2008.
The petitioners had claimed that the members of Higher Education Services Commission "at the relevant time were not qualified to be appointed as members or to hold selection of principals".
Besides, the petitioners had alleged, that the selection was based on "an interview having 300 marks without giving any credit to academic qualifications and experience" and that no criteria was fixed for conducting the interview either.
"Conduct of selection only on the basis of viva-voce test without any criteria for conduct of viva-voce test leads to an improper and arbitrary selection.
The viva-voce test does not afford the proper criteria for assessment of suitability of the candidates and it is highly subjective, which is capable of abuse because it leaves scope for favouritism and nepotism", the petitioners had alleged.
Moreover, the petitioners alleged, "the entire selection process by the Commission was tainted with nepotism and favouritism which is fortified from the fact that several candidates who did not fulfil the minimum eligibility had been called to appear in the interview for the posts of principals of post graduate colleges and degree colleges and were actually selected... they were not having the qualifications and the experience but still were called to appear, which clearly proves that the Commission proceeded to select the
candidates due to extraneous considerations".
The court, while allowing the petitions, directed the Commission to "frame appropriate guidelines for conduct of interview" and take "early steps for filling the vacant posts of principals of post-graduate/degree colleges in accordance with law".
A Division Bench comprising justices Ashok Bhushan and Sunita Agrawal passed the order on a bunch of writ petitions filed by Karuna Nidhan Upadhyay and others who had challenged a total of 156 appointments vide selection lists dated May 15, 2007, June 30, 2008 and July 02, 2008.
The petitioners had claimed that the members of Higher Education Services Commission "at the relevant time were not qualified to be appointed as members or to hold selection of principals".
Besides, the petitioners had alleged, that the selection was based on "an interview having 300 marks without giving any credit to academic qualifications and experience" and that no criteria was fixed for conducting the interview either.
"Conduct of selection only on the basis of viva-voce test without any criteria for conduct of viva-voce test leads to an improper and arbitrary selection.
The viva-voce test does not afford the proper criteria for assessment of suitability of the candidates and it is highly subjective, which is capable of abuse because it leaves scope for favouritism and nepotism", the petitioners had alleged.
Moreover, the petitioners alleged, "the entire selection process by the Commission was tainted with nepotism and favouritism which is fortified from the fact that several candidates who did not fulfil the minimum eligibility had been called to appear in the interview for the posts of principals of post graduate colleges and degree colleges and were actually selected... they were not having the qualifications and the experience but still were called to appear, which clearly proves that the Commission proceeded to select the
candidates due to extraneous considerations".
The court, while allowing the petitions, directed the Commission to "frame appropriate guidelines for conduct of interview" and take "early steps for filling the vacant posts of principals of post-graduate/degree colleges in accordance with law".
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