JNU VC has no authority to appoint chairpersons: Delhi HC

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

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

“The court, in this case, ruled that the Vice-Chancellor had no authority to make 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 the convening of selection committees and/or carrying out the selection(s), concerning their Centres,” an official statement read.

Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh were hearing the case. The bench said that the power of making such appointments is given to the Executive Council and not the Vice-Chancellor of JNU. While condemning the decision made by the JNU VC, the JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) said, “JNUTA condemns in the strongest words the arbitrary behavior 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

The association also pointed out 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.”

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