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Wednesday, Jun 29, 2005

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National

Court upholds Kurien's authority

Special Correspondent

Contract of personal service was non-statutory: Division Bench

AHMEDABAD: : The Gujarat High Court on Tuesday upheld the authority of Verghese Kurien as chairman of the Institute of Rural Management, Anand, to remove K. Prathap Reddy as its director.

A Division Bench, consisting of Justice G. S. Singhvi and Justice Anant Dave, vacated the interim stay granted by a single judge on a plea by Prof. Reddy against his sacking. Dr. Kurien's action was later "ratified" by the IMRA board of governors.

The issue created a stir in the institution, only one of its kind in the country. Three senior members — the former IPCL chairman Hasmukh Shah; the director of the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, Bakul Dholakia; and the managing director of the IRMA's sister concern, National Dairy Development Board, Amrita Patel — were not allowed to attend a board meeting on April 14, on the eve of the annual convocation. Believed to be critical of Dr. Kurien's "style of functioning," they squatted in front of the IRMA's main gate. They were disallowed permission on the ground that their tenure as members expired on February 15 and the so-called "fresh co-option" had no sanction of the chairman and therefore was not valid.

Prof. Reddy was removed as director in the last week of February. He moved the court, saying he had been appointed by the board and the chairman had no authority to sack him. After the single judge upheld his plea, Prof. Reddy was "reinstated" last month, though he was not allowed to attend office as director.

Dr. Kurien and the IRMA filed a revision petition. The Bench, relying on the judgments of the Andhra Pradesh High Court and the Supreme Court, ruled that the contract of personal service entered into between the IRMA and Prof. Reddy was non-statutory and could not be enforced by way of a writ petition under Article 226 of the Constitution. The IRMA was not a "state" within the meaning of Article 12 and it did not discharge any public duty. There was no justification in passing an interim order, which had the effect of indirectly nullifying the removal of Prof. Reddy, the court said.

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