JNU VC has no authority to appoint chairpersons: Delhi HC bars them from taking decisions

NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court observed that the Vice Chancellor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) M Jagadesh Kumar is not vested with the power to appoint chairpersons of centres. The court has also restrained these nine chairpersons from taking any major decisions.

“The court in this case ruled that the Vice Chancellor had no authority to take the above decisions, as the University Statute explicitly gave the powers of making such appointments to the Executive Council. In its Order, the court barred all 9 Chairpersons from taking any major decisions, including functions relating to convening of selection committees and/or carrying out selection(s), concerning their Centres,” an official statement read.

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Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh were hearing the case. The bench said that the powers of making such appointments is given to the Executive Council and not the Vice Chancellor of JNU.

Condemning the decision made by the JNU VC, the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) said, “JNUTA condemns in the strongest words the arbitrary behaviour of Prof. Jagadesh Kumar who has time and again shown complete disrespect for university processes in his haste to implement his personal agenda rather than what is in the academic interest of the university.”

“The silence maintained by the Ministry of Education with respect to the illegalities committed by him too needs to be questioned. By not taking action against this errant Vice Chancellor they have virtually allowed him to have a free reign at the cost of the University,” as per the JNUTA statement.

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The association also pointed out at how the university’s fund is being misused and said, “daily wage workers and contractual staff, scholarship holding students and academic programs suffer due to financial mismanagement of the Vice Chancellor, he continues to function with impunity, to run his vindictive and corrupt administration.”