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Professor (Dr) Sreejith P.S. vs. Dr. Rajasree M.S. & Ors.

Civil Appeal · 2022 INSC 1137Decided 21 Oct 2022
Civil Appeal Nos. 7634-7635 of 2022

Background

The appellant filed a writ petition seeking a writ of quo warranto to declare void the appointment of Dr. Rajasree M.S. as Vice-Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, on the ground that the Search Committee had recommended only a single name to the Chancellor instead of a panel of three to five names as required by both the University Act, 2015 and UGC Regulations. The Single Judge of the Kerala High Court dismissed the petition, holding that since the UGC Regulations had not been specifically adopted by the State, the State's own University Act (under which the Search Committee's constitution was found valid) would prevail. The Division Bench of the High Court upheld this dismissal, and the appellant approached the Supreme Court.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court allowed the appeals and quashed the appointment. It held that even under the State's own University Act, 2015 (Section 13(4)), the Search Committee was required to unanimously recommend a panel of not less than three suitable persons to the Chancellor, but in this case only one name (respondent's) was ever recommended, leaving the Chancellor with no real choice. Since this violated both the UGC Regulations and the State's own statute, the Search Committee was not "duly constituted" for this purpose, and the resulting appointment was illegal and void ab initio. The Court also devoted extended discussion to the importance and stature of the office of Vice-Chancellor, drawing on UGC and expert committee reports, before issuing a writ of quo warranto quashing the appointment.

Lesson Learnt

A statutory requirement that a selection panel recommend multiple names (not just one) exists to preserve genuine choice for the appointing authority; recommending only a single candidate defeats that safeguard and renders the resulting appointment void, regardless of whether the appointee was otherwise qualified.

Official source (sci.gov.in)View Judgment (PDF)

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