Justice K Vinod Chandran of the Supreme Court on Monday recused from hearing a petition challenging the appointment of Professor Naima Khatoon as the Vice Chancellor (VC) of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU).
The case was listed before the bench of Chief Justice of India (CJI) BR Gavai, Justice Chandran and Justice NV Anjaria.
Justice Chandran revealed that he was the Chancellor of Chanakya National Law University (CNLU) when Professor (Dr.) Faizan Mustafa was appointed as its VC.
Mustafa is also one of the petitioners before the top court in the case against Khatoon's appointment as AMU VC. He had been in the shortlist for appointment of AMU VC.
"I was the chancellor of CNLU when I selected Faizan Mustafa ... so I can recuse," Justice Chandran said.
Though Solicitor General Tushar Mehta submitted that no recusal was needed as they have faith in Justice Chandran, CJI Gavai said,
"Let my brother decide. List this case before a bench of which Justice Chandran is not a part of."
Allahabad High Court in May this year had upheld Khatoon's appointment as AMU VC. The petitioners had challenged the appointment on the ground that Khatoon's husband Professor Mohd Gulrez was acting as Vice-Chancellor and had presided over the crucial meetings of Executive Council when her name was recommended.
Her ultimate selection was by the Visitor against whom no allegation of bias is made, the High Court had ruled while upholding the appointment.
Today, Senior Advocate Kapil Sibal argued that if VCs are appointed in this manner, he shudders to think about the future.
"She will get only 6 votes if 2 votes are excluded. It is only because of VC vote in the executive committee and there was another. If you take these two out, then she is out," Sibal submitted.
Sibal added that he was not pressing for a stay but the matter needs to be examined.
"There cannot be a better case than this on facts than this," he said.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati submitted that Khatoon's appointment as VC was historic.
"This is historic. She is the first woman VC. This is part selection and part election. The High Court did not agree to our election arguments but the court did uphold her appointment," she said.
CJI Gavai remarked that Professor Gulrez should not have taken part in the process.
"Ideally the Vice Chancellor should not have taken part and let the senior-most be part of it. See, when we are also taking collegium decisions if such a thing happens, we also recuse," Justice Gavai said.
Since Justice Chandran recused from hearing the case, it will now be listed before a different bench.