The Supreme Court on Monday expressed surprise over appointment of a retired Army officer as the head of Aligarh Muslim University, a premier Central university, wondering how the university could be an exception to the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations prescribing a qualified academician for such posts.
The Bench of Chief Justice TS Thakur and Justice AM Khanwilkar said, "The Vice-Chancellor must be an academician who should be a person who has worked for at least 10 years as a professor in a University… Why to appoint a former Army officerIJ" The observations came on a PIl filed by one Syed Abrar Ahmed who questioned the eligibility of the present V-C to continue as the head of AMU.
Ahmed's counsel Prashant Bhushan told the Court that the appointment of the present V-C was in violation of UGC Guidelines which is mandatory for every Central University. The Bench asked AMU's counsel senior advocate Raju Ramchandran, "If every other Central University follows the Regulation why can't AMUIJ We are not questioning his (V-C's) abilities. We are on the question whether his appointment is as per the UGC Regulations."
Defending the appointment of its Vice-Chancellor lt Gen Zameer Uddin Shah, the University told the Court that regulations of UGC apply to teachers and not to the V-C post. Bhushan disputed on the point as he said the UGC Regulations explicitly state that "the Vice-Chancellor should be a distinguished academician with a minimum of 10 years of experience as professor in a university system or 10 years of experience in an equivalent position in a reputed research and/or academic administrative organisation."
Salman Khurshid, who appeared for V-C, referred to Sec 26 of UGC and said AMU is a minority institution. He said the alleged non-compliance of Regulations could lead to stoppage of funds granted by UGC but the terms of appointment of the V-C cannot be dictated to the University. The matter has been posted for further hearing on September 26.