Describing Vice-Chancellor(VC) as “conscience keeper” of a varsity, Bombay High Court recently endorsed the action of RST Nagpur University here against a lecturer, who had been convicted in a revaluation-cum-bogus marksheet scam.
“Being the conscience-keeper, the Vice Chancellor cannot be considered to be powerless, when the teachers approved by this Authority are found to be not fit for grant of such privileges,” said the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court.
It upheld the action of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University’s Vice-Chancellor, Dr Vilas Sapkal, against lecturer Sunil Mishra.
The judgement is significant, as authority of Vice-Chancellors to take disciplinary action, even in extreme cases, has often been challenged in courts.
In the present case, the Vice-Chancellor had cancelled the approval of Mishra’s appointment as lecturer in Central India Institute of Mass Communication, after he was convicted in the revaluation scam by the court.
The division bench of Justices Satyaranjan Dharmadhikari and M T Joshi found no merit in Mishra’s contention that Vice-Chancellor had acted against him in a personal vengeance, as Mishra had earlier challenged his appointment and filed complaints against him with the Chancellor.
HC noted that Mishra had not disputed his own conviction for cheating, and that was the foundation of the Vice Chancellor’s action.
The judges also rejected the contention that an approval of appointment, once granted, cannot be revoked subsequently.
Source: PTI
