A Division Bench of the Kerala High Court has held that the Chancellor cannot overlook the authority of the State government in recommending any qualified name for appointment as Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University when the government recommends officers having qualifications prescribed by the UGC under the provisions of the university Act.
The Bench made the observation recently while disposing of an appeal filed by the State government against a single judge’s judgement relating to the appointment of Ciza Thomas, Senior Joint Director, Directorate of Technical Education, as Vice-Chancellor in-charge of the university.
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The Bench observed “the Chancellor has been conferred with the power to appoint the persons who possess the necessary qualifications as prescribed by the UGC as Vice-Chancellor. The Chancellor, in that process, cannot overlook the authority of the State government to recommend any qualified name for appointment as Vice-Chancellor. When a statute prescribes a particular mode, be it directory or mandatory, that has to be followed for such an appointment and cannot be disregarded while making such an appointment.”
The court, while declining to issue a quo warranto against Ciza Thomas observed that the Chancellor did not disregard the authority of the State government in appointing a qualified person. The court said that in order to avoid chaos due to the vacuum in the office of the Vice-chancellor, the Chancellor, being the appointing authority and the head of the university, stepped in and appointed a qualified person as per the UGC Regulations. Mere procedural lapses, if any, could not result in the issue of quo warranto.
The court observed that the State government was free to suggest a panel of a minimum of three other names to the Chancellor to replace of Ciza Thomas.
