The Hindu Editorial Analysis- 17th November 2022 | Current Affairs & Hindu Analysis: Daily, Weekly & Monthly - UPSC PDF Download

Why in the news?

• Recently, the Supreme Court held in a judgment that a Vice-Chancellor should have a minimum teaching experience of 10 years as a professor in a university and his or her name should be recommended by a search-cum-selection committee.
• The appointment of a Vice-Chancellor (VC) is to be made from the names recommended by the search-cum-selection committee.
• A Bench of Justices M.R. Shah and M.M. Sundresh referred to Section 10(3) of the University Act, 2019 which provided that the committee should prepare a list of three persons for appointment as VC based on their qualification and eligibility.

What is the issue?

• The judgment dealt with a challenge by Professor Narendra Singh Bhandari, whose appointment as VC of Soban Singh Jeena University was set aside by the Uttarakhand High Court last year.
• The argument against Mr. Bhandari's appointment was that he lacked the required ten years of varsity professorial teaching experience.
• Prior to his appointment as a member of the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission in 2017, he had only 8.5 years of teaching experience.
• He argued, however, that he was on a lengthy leave of absence while serving on the Commission, and thus his lien remained in place for the professorial position. He was appointed VC in 2020.
• The Uttarakhand High Court's ruling was upheld by the court, which stated that supervising Ph.D. candidates cannot be construed as having teaching experience as a professor in an academic institution.
• This decision was made shortly after the apex court overturned Dr. Rajasree M.S.'s appointment as vice chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala.
• The court in the Kerala case had emphasized, as it does in this ruling, the significance of choosing the vice chancellor from a list of candidates put up by a a search committee of academically eminent persons.
• It cannot be assumed that he continued to teach or gain teaching experience throughout the term of lien just because his lien was renewed on the position of a professor.
• He could not have performed any other work on any other post while serving as a member of the Public Service Commission, even taking into account Article 319 of the Constitution, the judgment's author, Justice Shah, said.
• The court also dismissed his claim that his work as a Public Service Commission member, where he oversaw Ph.D. students, should have been counted as teaching experience.

• What is Quo-Warranto?

• It literally means 'by what authority or warrants'.
• It is issued by the court to investigate the legality of a person's claim to a public office.
• As a result, it prevents a person from illegally usurping public office.
• The writ can only be issued in the case of a substantive public office of permanent character established by statute or by the Constitution.
• It cannot be issued in the case of a ministerial or private office.
• Unlike the other four writs, this can be sought by anyone who is interested, not just the aggrieved party.

What is the Process of the Appointment of a Vice Chancellor?

• According to the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations, 2018, the VC of a university, in general, is appointed by the Visitor/Chancellor, from a panel of three to five names recommended by the duly constituted Search cum Selection Committee.
• A visitor is empowered to call for a set of fresh names in case of dissatisfaction with the given panel.
• In Indian universities, the President of India is the ex-officio Visitor of all the Central Universities and the Governor of the respective states is the Chancellor of all the state universities.
• Necessarily this system is not uniform in all the universities. As far as the procedures adopted by different states are concerned, they vary.
• Where there is a conflict between the State University Act and the UGC Regulations, 2018 to the extent State legislation is repugnant, the UGC Regulations, 2018 shall prevail.
• According to Article 254(1), if any provision of a state law is repugnant to a provision in a law made by the Parliament, which the Parliament is competent to enact, or with any existing law regarding any matter in the Concurrent List, then the Parliamentary law would prevail over the State law.

What is the Role of Vice-Chancellor?

• As per the constitution of the University, the Vice- Chancellor (VC) is considered the ‘Principal Academic and Executive Officer of the University’.
• As head of the University, he/she is expected to function as a ‘bridge’ between the executive and the academic wing of the university.
• It is to facilitate this expected role that universities are always in search of persons with values, personality characteristics and integrity in addition to academic excellence and administrative experience.
• The reports of the Radhakrishnan Commission (1948), Kothari Commission (1964-1966), Gnanam Committee (1990) and Ramlal Parikh Committee (1993) have highlighted the importance of the role of VC in maintaining the quality and relevance of universities, in addition to its growth and development, keeping in view, the much-needed changes from time to time.
• He shall be the ex-officio Chairman of the Court, Executive Council, Academic Council, Finance Committee and Selection Committees and shall, in the absence of the Chancellor preside at any convocation of the university for conferring degrees.
• It shall be the duty of the Vice-Chancellor to see that the provisions of the Act, Statutes and Ordinances and Regulations are fully observed and he should have the power necessary for the discharge of this duty.

What is the role of UGC?

• Education falls within the Concurrent List, however, entry 66 of the Union List grants the Centre significant control over higher education through "coordination and determination of standards in institutions for higher education or research and scientific and technological institutes."
• Even when it comes to appointments in universities and colleges, the UGC serves in this standard-setting capacity.
• The "Visitor/Chancellor" — typically the Governor in states — shall appoint the vice-chancellor from a panel of names recommended by search-cum-selection committees, as per the UGC (Minimum Qualifications for Appointment of Teachers and Other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and Other Measures for the Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education) Regulations, 2018.
• Higher education institutions are required to abide by its rules, especially those that receive UGC funding.
• In the case of central institutions, these are generally followed without issue, but in the case of state universities, the states occasionally oppose them.