A petition has been filed in the Madhya Pradesh High Court challenging the selection process of lovely Sharma as the Vice- Chancellor in Raja Man Singh Tomar Music and Arts University, Gwalior.
According to sources, the petition was filed by Advocate Syam Charan Singh in the court of Justice Ananad Pathak of the Gwalior Bench of the MP High Court. The petitioner has challenged the appointment of the vice-chancellor on the grounds that she doesn’t possess the required qualifications for the post.
The High Court admitted the petition today and ordered notices to be issued to the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the University; Principal Secretary, Culture & Higher Education; UGC Chairman; Vice- Chancellor lovely Sharma and Registrar of the Music University, Rajman Singh Tomar.
The petition which seems to have the backing of most of the faculty members of the university states that the norms of the University Grants Commission were not followed while appointing lovely Sharma as the VC. As per the norms of the UGC a person must have 10 years teaching experience as a full Professor apart from the required administrative experiences to be considered for the post of Vice- Chancellor.
The petition states that the present VC has neither 10 years teaching experience as Professor nor does she possess the obligatory administrative qualifications and experiences. According to some faculty members, the University did not maintain consistency in the qualification criteria.
They added that lovely Sharma’s appointment as VC is unconvinced not only because of her non fulfillment of the eligibility criteria but also because the process through which she was chosen is inconsistent with the norms and spirit of the UGC.
The recent developments related to this issue in this prestigious university have hit the functioning of the university in a severe way. However, there is nothing much anyone can do to redeem the situation as the whole matter is sub-judice.