Shimla: The Himachal Pradesh high court on Thursday struck down provisions of the state law and rules giving the state govt a role in appointing vice-chancellors of the state’s agriculture and horticulture universities, holding them in conflict with the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, 2018.The ruling came amid a tussle between the state Congress govt and then governor Shiv Pratap Shukla over the appointment of vice-chancellors of the two universities in Palampur and Solan. The assembly had on Aug 19, 2025, passed the Himachal Pradesh Universities of Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry (Amendment) Bill, 2023 again without changes, maintaining that the elected govt should have a role in the appointments.Shukla had earlier returned the bill to the govt, observing that it should be amended in line with Section 4.3(1) of the Model Act for Higher Agricultural Educational Institutions in India (Revised 2023). The provision says the vice-chancellor “shall be appointed by the chancellor from the panel of eminent educationists in agricultural and allied sciences drawn by the search committee”.A division bench of Justice Vivek Singh Thakur and Justice Ranjan Sharma allowed two writ petitions challenging amendments to the Himachal Pradesh Universities of Agriculture, Horticulture and Forestry Act, 1986, and the Universities Rules, 2026. The court also quashed advertisements issued on Feb 26 inviting applications for VCs of Chaudhary Sarwan Kumar Himachal Pradesh Krishi Vishvavidyalaya, Palampur, and Dr Yashwant Singh Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan.The court directed the state govt and chancellor to initiate a fresh selection process expeditiously in accordance with the UGC Regulations, 2018, including the prescribed eligibility criteria and composition of the search-cum-selection committee. It also permitted inclusion of an Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) nominee, if required.The court held that amendments giving the state govt a role through its “aid and advice” were beyond the legislative competence of the state and contrary to the UGC Act, 1956, and regulations framed under it. It declared the provisions unconstitutional and ultra vires and struck them down.The court also invalidated Rules 2, 3 and 4 of the Universities Rules, 2026, holding that the prescribed search-cum-selection procedure was inconsistent with Regulation 7.3 of the UGC Regulations, 2018.The high court found that the state’s amended procedure, under which the search-cum-selection committee would submit a panel of three candidates to the state govt and one name would then be recommended to the chancellor, did not conform to the UGC framework. It also noted that the committee’s composition under Rule 3 excluded a nominee of the UGC chairman, contrary to the UGC Regulations, 2018.
