Kerala Administrative Tribunal quashes appointment of principals of 3 Government Law Colleges

The Kerala Administrative Tribunal on Wednesday quashed the appointment of the principals to three Government Law Colleges (GLC) in the State - GLC Ernakulam, GLC Thrissur, and GLC Thiruvananthapuram. [Dr. Giri Sankar SS v State of Kerala & Ors.].A bench comprising judicial member Justice PV Asha and administrative member PK Kesavan, canceled the appointments of principals Dr. Bindu M Nambiar of GLC Ernakulam, Dr. VR Jayadevan of GLC Thrissur, and Dr. Bijukumar R of GLC Thiruvananthapuram, upon finding that the UGC Regualtions in place at the time were not complied with when they were appointed."From the reply statement filed by the 1st Respondent (State government), it is found that no selection was conducted for appointment of principals in Law Colleges, adhering to the provisions contained in UGC Regulations, 2010. It is seen that the select list drawn and approved by the Government on 30.8.2018 was not prepared or published in accordance with the UGC Regulations or on the basis of a selection made in tune with the UGC Regulations from among teachers having qualification as provided in Claise 4.2.0 of the UGC Regulation 2010. Therefore, the select list as well as the promotion granted to those inclided in that select list are unsustainable," the order stated.Therefore, the Court directed the State government to constitute a selection committee for conducting a fresh selection selection for appointing principals in the GLCs in accordance with UGC Regulations, 2010, as against all the vacancies of principals that existed at the time the three principals were appointed. "State government is directed to consider all those who were eligible at the relevant time irrespective of their retirements and make appointments based on said results. In the event of selection of those who retired from service, grant them appointments notionally and grant them all consequential benefits by way of fixation of pay and pension in the post of principals," the tribunal further ordered.Since the UGC Regulations, 2018 were formulated after these particular appointments, the tribunal directed the State government to make appointments against all other vacancies in the future as per the 2018 Regulations. .The order was passed on original applications moved before the KAT seeking directions to the State government to make appointments to the post of principals in GLCs in accordance with UGC Regulations, 2010, in compliance with a judgment of a full bench of the High Court in 2016. The applicants contended that the principals of the concerned GLCs were not qualified for the post as per the UGC Regulations, 2010 and that a proper selection committee was not constituted for the appointments. They cited various precedents including the recent decision of the Supreme Court in Dr. Sreejith PS v Rajasree MS & Ors. to argue that if there is any conflict between Central and State legislation, the Central legislation would prevail. Therefore, even if the State government had not adopted the UGC Regulations at the time of appointment, the same would apply. They also contended that the appointments ought to have been made by direct recruitment or promotion. These contentions were opposed by the State government with respect to each of the appointments, as well as the respondent principals. .After examining the UGC Regulations 2010, the tribunal found that the direct recruitment is provided as the method of appointment for the post of principal. Finding that the appointments of the three principles were not made as per UGC Regulations 2010, the tribunal set aside their appointments..Advocates Rekha Vasudevan, MR Rajesh appeared for the applicants.Advocates Brijesh Mohan, Vishnu, VN Shankarji, P Nandakumar and Annapoorna appeared for the respondent-principals. Government Pleader Imam Gregorios Karat appeared for the State government.