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The Chairperson Governing Body Daulat Ram College v. Dr. Asha

Civil Appeal · 2021 INSC 8Decided 5 Jan 2021
Civil Appeal No. 13 of 2021
Justice Ashok Bhushan · Justice M.R. Shah

Background

A dispute arose at Delhi University's Daulat Ram College over who had the power to appoint the Warden of the college hostel: the College's Governing Body (which had earlier re-appointed Dr. Kavita Sharma) or the Principal (who separately appointed Dr. Asha to the post). Dr. Asha challenged her removal/the resulting dispute before the Delhi High Court, and a Division Bench of the High Court issued directions requiring that applications for the post be placed before the College's Staff Council for recommendations. The College's Governing Body appealed to the Supreme Court against those directions.

Decision Breakdown

The Supreme Court held that under the relevant University Ordinances, it is the Governing Body of the College, not the Principal and not the Staff Council, that has the statutory authority to appoint the Warden of the hostel. The Principal's role is limited to inviting applications and giving a recommendation based on personal knowledge of the staff, which the Governing Body must give due weight to, but the final appointment decision rests with the Governing Body. Since the Staff Council had no statutory role in this process, the High Court's direction requiring applications to be placed before it was set aside, and the Governing Body was directed to initiate a fresh appointment process (inviting applications through the Principal) before the hostel reopens.

Lesson Learnt

In disputes over who has the power to make an appointment within an institution, courts will look strictly at what the governing statute or ordinance actually assigns to each body: an administrative practice or a lower court's direction cannot substitute for the body that the law has designated as having the real decision-making authority.

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

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