Petition in Delhi HC challenging procedure for appointment of National Law University's VC

The Delhi High Court on Wednesday received a petition challenging the procedure for the appointment of National Law University's Vice-Chancellor, seeking directions to quash the decision of NLU's Selection Committee. The petition filed by Dr  Prasannanshu, whose candidature for the VC's post was rejected by the NLU Chancellor complained that the Chancellor's decision was a violation of his fundamental right under Article 14 of the Constitution.

"The petitioner had applied for the post on November 11, 2019, in the prescribed format, within the time period prescribed, after duly verifying the requirements as prescribed in the official notification. It came to the knowledge of the petitioner that the Selection Committee met on February 5 and decided to call the applicants for interaction on February 25," the plea said.

On October 11, 2019, Delhi's National Law University had issued a notification signed by the convener of the Selection Committee inviting nominations for the post of Vice-Chancellor (VC), National Law University, Delhi (NLUD).

" The petitioner submitted that he believes that he fulfils the minimum eligibility criteria mentioned in the official notification dated October 11, 2019, and he should have been called by the Selection Committee for an interview/interaction meeting," his counsel stated.

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Petitioner claims he fulfiled eligibility criteria

Seeking directions for quashing the decision of the Selection Committee taken on February 5, the petitioner demanded that decision made by the Committee to nominate any candidates to the council also be quashed keeping in mind the violation of the petitioner's fundamental rights.

"The petitioner was not called, despite fulfilling the minimum eligibility criteria, by the selection committee whereby other candidates were duly called for the said post and hence the petitioner was not treated at par with the other candidates," the plea said. The petition also sought directions to the respondents to take effective steps to recall their decision and reconsider him for the post of NLU's vice-chancellor.

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