The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Plea against Vice-Chancellor

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Apr 04, 2006

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Plea against Vice-Chancellor

Special Correspondent

"Viswanathan holds additional post"

CHENNAI: A quo warranto petition seeking to direct Anna University Vice-Chancellor D. Viswanathan to show cause on what authority he was holding the additional post of chairman of the Southern Regional Committee of the All-India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has been filed in the Madras High Court.

The First Bench of Chief Justice A.P. Shah and Justice Prabha Sridevan, ordered notices to the Vice-Chancellor, the AICTE and the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development.

The petitioner, S. Nagarajan, a retired headmaster, said the university was conducting B.Tech. courses in biotechnology, ceramic technology, food technology and pharmaceutical technology at its Alagappa College of Technology without the AICTE approval. "If technical courses run by the Anna University do not require approval or monitoring by the AICTE, the same yardstick is applicable to other deemed universities providing technical courses. Otherwise, it would offend Article 14 of the Constitution as it would amount to discriminating between courses offered by the university and other deemed universities."

Pointing out that as per Section 11(5) of the Anna University Act, 1978, the Vice-Chancellor was a "whole-time officer of the university," the petitioner said there was a clash of interests if Mr. Viswanathan was to discharge his functions as Vice-Chancellor as well as Chairman of the Southern Regional Committee of the AICTE.

The petitioner said that by giving press statements that deemed universities could come under Anna University's jurisdiction and by meeting parents and students of the deemed universities, the Vice-Chancellor had tried "to force the deemed universities back into the fold of Anna University."

He blamed Mr. Viswanathan for the recent campus disturbances in various deemed universities and said he had "clearly abused" his positions in the university as well as the AICTE.

He prayed for an interim order forbearing Mr. Viswanathan from continuing as Chairman of the AICTE body.

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