Indore (Madhya Pradesh): In case certain events take place, the recruitment of teachers in Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV) might land in troubled waters owing to the stay given by the Indore bench of Madhya Pradesh High Court.
The DAVV had undertaken the process of appointing teachers after a gap of 14 years.
Following a petition filed by a candidate, who was not called for the selection interview despite being eligible, the HC had stayed the appointments at the university on September 3.
In his interim order, Justice Subodh Abhyankar had ruled that any appointment shall be made subject to the final disposal of the petition.
This stay has created a scenario wherein a situation could even arise such that the entire appointment process is cancelled.
The interviews are completed and the names of candidates are in sealed envelopes. The envelopes cannot be opened till the final disposal of the petition.
Now, if the petition was not disposed of before the imposition of the model code of conduct for upcoming Assembly elections, then the envelopes won’t be opened till the poll code is lifted.
What is even more alarming is that if Congress comes to power, chances are that they would cancel the entire appointment process at the DAVV and ask the university to conduct the appointment process afresh.
If the second scenario comes to pass, it will be a major jolt for DAVV, which has to undergo NAAC’s assessment for accreditation next year.
No appoints since 2009
Earlier, the university had undertaken an appointment process in 2009 which had to be stopped mid-stream following complaints of irregularities. The university which had invited applications for nearly 80 teaching posts had called off the recruitment process after filling 31 posts.
What led to the legal tangle
The university has undertaken a process for filling 92 teaching posts, including 47 backlog posts. However, the university suspended appointments on backlog posts with single applicants.
The university argued that there should be at least 3 eligible candidates for interview against one post.
Aggrieved by this move of the university, Santosh Gaherwal, who was found eligible but was not invited for an interview as he was the lone candidate for appointment on a backlog post at School of Life Science, moved the HC through his counsel Vivek Phadke.
Phadke informed the court that officially his client was not even told the reason for not being considered for appointment even when he was eligible.
He said that the university’s terms and conditions did not state that candidates would be invited for interviews only if there were at least 3 eligible applicants.
The petitioner’s counsel stated that as per a government order, the general rules should be relaxed in case of appointment on backlog posts if need be.
The petitioner informed the court that his seniority if appointed on the court’s order, would be affected if other candidates undergoing recruitment process were appointed before him. To this, the court stayed the entire recruitment process.
Registrar Ajay Verma stated that he can’t comment on the issue as the matter is sub-judice. “I can only say that the university will strictly abide by the court’s ruling in the case,” he stated.
