Indore : Raj Bhawan has reportedly extended the term of the Vice Chancellor (VC) search panel by four weeks and fixed the meeting of the panel on February 2.
The three-member panel tasked with short-listing candidates for the vice-chancellor’s post at Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya would recommend names of VC aspirants from which the Chancellor of state universities, Ram Naresh Yadav would finalise one name and appoint him as the VC of DAVV.
The term of VC search panel, which was constituted on December 4, had expired on January 14 and since all eyes were on Raj Bhawan to know whether it extends the panel’s term or orders for the constitution of a new panel.
According to sources, Raj Bhawan extended the term of the search panel and asked it to recommend the name of the shortlisted candidates on February 2.
However, acting vice-chancellor Ashutosh Mishra denied receiving any communiqué regarding extension of the search panel from Raj Bhawan.
Former executive council member of RGPV, Ajay Chordia had filed the petition on which the court in December last year had issued notices to the Chancellor of DAVV, registrar, executive council members Ganesh Kawadia and PK Gupta and EC nominee in the VC search panel Gulab Sharma.
Days after the notices were issued, Raj Bhawan had postponed the meeting of the VC search panel scheduled for January 7 citing “unforeseen reasons”.
Legal tangle
In his petition, Chordia had alleged that the election process adopted by the DAVV executive council for election of its nominee in the VC search panel was flawed. He had requested the court to make Sharma’s election null and void and direct the DAVV EC to re-elect its nominee for the search panel.
Petitioner’s advocate Manohar Dalal said that two candidates, who had applied for the VC’s post at DAVV had taken part in the voting conducted for electing EC nominee for the VC search panel.
“Prof Ganesh Kawadia and Prof PK Gupta, who are EC members and have applied for the VC post, had taken part in the voting process. Technically, they should have opted out of the voting process. As they participated in the process, it got flawed,” Dalal said. The respondents will file their replies in the court by January 25.
