Assam University VC Rajive Mohan Pant appeals HC ruling on his appointment

Professor Rajive Mohan Pant has moved a Division Bench of the Gauhati High Court against a single-judge ruling that declared his appointment as Vice-Chancellor of Assam University in Silchar illegal, The Sentinel reported on Saturday.

The writ appeal was filed on 23 October. According to sources quoted in the report, the Division Bench is expected to take it up for a first hearing on 2 November.

The 14 October judgment

Justice N Unnikrishnan Nair delivered the judgment on 14 October on a petition filed by Professor Samira Behera of the university's Department of Mathematics.

The court held that Pant had no legal authority to continue as Vice-Chancellor and directed the appointing authority to immediately hand over charge of the office to another eligible person from the university, the report said.

Who is named in the appeal

Apart from Behera, Pant has made the Union government, the Secretary and an Under Secretary of the Ministry of Education, the University Grants Commission (UGC) and Assam University respondents in his appeal.

The appeal asks the Division Bench to set aside the single-judge order. It is not yet known whether Pant has sought an interim stay of the ruling, or whether the Ministry of Education, which acts for the Visitor of central universities, has named anyone else to take charge.

Salaries in limbo

The dispute has created an administrative and financial crisis at the central university, according to The Sentinel. Nearly 750 employees are uncertain whether they will be paid their salaries for the current month, the paper reported, as questions over who holds financial authority remain unsettled.

Assam University is a central university set up in 1994, with its main campus at Dargakona near Silchar in Cachar district and a second campus at Diphu. It serves students from the Barak Valley and neighbouring states.

Neither the university administration nor the Ministry of Education had issued a public statement on the appeal or the salary situation by Saturday.

NEInsider will update this story after the Division Bench hearing.