The Hindu : National : UGC chief's appointment found ``illegal''

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Apr 01, 2005

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National

UGC chief's appointment found ``illegal''

By Anita Joshua

NEW DELHI, MARCH 31. The appointment of Arun Nigavekar as Chairman of the University Grants Commission in September 2002 has been found to be ``illegal'' by the Government. It has written to its counsel in Chennai to bring this to the notice of the Madras High Court when a petition challenging the appointment is taken up for hearing on Tuesday.

The Government took this position after the Law Ministry examined the matter and found that Prof. Nigavekar's appointment was not in conformity with the provisions of Section 6 of the UGC Act. Though the Law Ministry is of the view that the Centre is fully empowered to remove him, the Human Resource Development Ministry is walking a tightrope since the matter is sub-judice.

The issue came to light after a public interest litigation petition was filed in the Madras High Court challenging Prof. Nigavekar's appointment on the premise that the Act does not allow a person who has held office for two terms in any capacity — whether as Chairman, Vice-Chairman or member of the Commission — to hold another post for a third term.

Prior to being appointed UGC Chairman on July 16, 2002, Prof. Nigavekar was a member of the Commission for three years from May 31, 1992, and then its Vice-Chairman from September 28, 2000. While the Vice-Chairman's term was for three years and would have ended on September 27, 2003, he was elevated as Chairman in September 2002 till September 27, 2005.

The Law Ministry feels during the erstwhile NDA regime the proviso that no one can hold a term post for more than two stints was overcome by ``subsuming'' Prof. Nigavekar's vice-chairmanship years into the five-year tenure of chairmanship.

Though the appointment was made with the approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC), the formal clearance was apparently not sought from the Law Ministry. Since the ACC had cleared the appointment, the HRD Ministry recently referred the matter to the Prime Minister; seeking clearance to take the stand in the court that Prof. Nigavekar's appointment was illegal.

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