The Maharashtra government on Monday informed the Bombay High Court that a new search committee for the appointment of Vice Chancellor (V-C) of Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) will be formed within a week and the process for appointment will begin soon.
A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala and Justice Sandeep V Marne was hearing a PIL by Pune resident and retired professor Dhananjay Kulkarni and Bageshree Manthalkar, senate member of the SPPU. that demanded implementation of existing provisions of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016, for the appointment of the VC of SPPU, a post that has been vacant since May last year.
The plea claimed that there has been no effective and timely implementation of the 2016 Act, adding that important positions in the university, including that of the vice-chancellor, are lying vacant.
The petitioners told the court that the post of V-C had fallen vacant on May 18 last year and Karbhari Vishwanath Kale, V-C of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Technological University of Lonere in Raigad, had been given additional charge of SPPU V-C.
Advocates Anjali N Helekar, Anu C Kaladharan and Manali Chipkar, appearing for the petitioners, referred to Section 11 (5) of the Act in their plea.
The said provision stipulated that the process of setting up the panel of suitable persons for being appointed as the V-C shall begin at least six months before the probable date of occurrence of the vacancy. Moreover, the process of appointment of the V-C shall be completed at least one month before the probable date of occurrence of the vacancy, he added. Helekar said that only a partial process was initiated in this regard.
Helekar submitted that in spite of the letter by the Governor’s office to the government, requesting to communicate the nominee of state government for the search committee, there was no further progress in the matter.
The petitioners argued it may not be appropriate for the state government to keep such an important position in an academic field lying vacant without there being an effective implementation of 2016 law.
On August 22 last year, the HC had issued a notice to the principal secretary of the state Higher and Technical Education department, seeking a response to the plea. Additional Government Pleader Bhupesh V Samant, representing the department, had then informed the bench that the process of appointing V-C of SPPU had commenced and such process will be taken to its logical conclusion, in accordance with law. Thereafter, the court had posted the matter for further hearing to January 9.
On Monday, AGP Samant told the bench that within a week, a new search panel will be formed and the appointment process will commence. After Samant sought to adjourn the plea, the bench posted the matter for further hearing to January 18.