Silchar: The Gauhati high court has quashed the appointment of Assam University vice-chancellor Rajive Mohan Pant, ruling that he did not meet the minimum experience required under University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations and that the selection committee had failed to resolve doubts over his eligibility before recommending him.Justice N Unni Krishnan Nair, in an order dated Oct 14, allowed a petition filed by Samira Behera, a professor of mathematics at the university, challenging Pant’s appointment.The court directed the appointing authority to entrust an eligible person from the university with the vice-chancellor’s charge until a regular appointee takes over. It also ordered a fresh selection process to be initiated and completed within four months of receiving a certified copy of the order. However, the salary and allowances already drawn by Pant will not be recovered.Pant’s appointment was communicated on Jan 14, 2022, and he assumed office on Jan 25 that year for a five-year term or until he turned 70, whichever was earlier.The dispute centred on Regulation 7.3(i) of the UGC Regulations, 2018, which requires a vice-chancellor to have at least 10 years’ experience as a professor in a university or 10 years’ experience in a reputed research or academic administrative organisation, along with demonstrated academic leadership.The court held that these were separate eligibility criteria and that experience under the two categories could not be combined to meet the 10-year requirement.Records showed Pant had served as a professor at the North-Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology in Arunachal Pradesh from Aug 2007 to Sept 2014. He then served as director of the National Institute of Rural Development and Panchayati Raj, Guwahati, for around six years and seven months. Neither tenure independently met the stipulated 10-year requirement, the court held.The court rejected the argument that Pant’s retention of a lien on his professor’s post during deputation allowed his tenure as director to count as professorial experience. Retaining a lien did not establish that he continued to perform the duties of a professor, it ruled, citing a Supreme Court judgment.The court also found deficiencies in the selection process. Minutes of the search-cum-selection committee’s meeting on June 26, 2021, recorded that Pant’s shortlisting was subject to confirmation of eligibility. However, the minutes of its final meeting in July, when it recommended five names, including Pant’s, did not explain how that concern had been resolved.Holding that Pant’s appointment violated the recruitment advertisement and UGC regulations, the court ruled that he had no right to continue as vice-chancellor.
