VC issue: Retd Osmania University professor moves HC

HYDERABAD: Highlighting that it serves no purpose to blame the erstwhile rulers of united Andhra Pradesh for problems afflicting the education sector, Dr D Manohar Rao, a retired professor from Osmania University, filed two public interest petitions challenging the various amendments brought in by the government to empower itself with unbridled powers to appoint people of its choice as chancellors and vice chancellors.

He made all the varsities in Telangana as respondents to the plea. The petitioner's counsel, S Sriram, told a bench of Acting Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice A V Sesha Sai that the state has brought in several GOs and legislations, conferring upon itself arbitrary powers to select chancellors of various universities.

"There is no prescription on who is eligible and who is not. Thus, the legislature abdicated its legislative power in favour of the government, which is impermissible in law," he said. Referring to the assertions of the state counsel in the school fee PIL, wherein it was alleged that liquor lobbies of AP were running schools in Telangana, Sriram wondered whether it is correct for the Telangana regime to dilute the academic structures of eminent varsities.

While UGC norms say that a professor with 10 years of experience is eligible, the state made it five years and even allowed persons with administrative experience. "This will pave the way for IAS officers and even section officers of the secretariat," he said. The state, for achieving this, amended pre-existing GOs with retrospective effect under section 101 of the AP Reorganisation Act, he said. Invoking section 101 for this purpose is unlawful and impermissible under law, he added. "They forgot the fact that our own high court has held, in a similar case, that such rule-making power under section 101 cannot yield rules with retrospective effect," Sriram said. "The amendments proposed indicate that the government wants to keep its stranglehold on the universities," Sriram said.

The bench said it would hear the matter again on Thursday.