The main legal point established in the judgment is that appointments made in violation of the relevant provisions of the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976 and the Statutes governing the appointment of teachers and officers can be quashed by the court.

These two Appeals preferred under Clause 10 of the Letters Patent arise from a common judgment and order dated 8th September 2011 passed by the learned single Judge in C.W.J.C. No. 2103 of 2009 and C.W.J.C. No. 12195 of 2009.

2. C.W.J.C. No. 2103 of 2009 was filed under Article 226 of the Constitution by one Navin Kumar, a senior Lecturer in the Post Graduate Department of Geography in Veer Kunwar Singh University, Ara. The said writ petitioner challenged the appointment of 16 Principals in the constituent Colleges of Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University, Bhagalpur (hereinafter referred to as “the University”) made under Notification dated 29th September 2008.

3. Learned single Judge has allowed the above C.W.J.C. No. 2103 of 2009 and has quashed the selection and appointment of the 16 Principals appointed under the Notification dated 29th September 2008. Feeling aggrieved, ten of them have preferred Letters Patent Appeal No.1438 of 2011.

4. The learned single Judge has considered each allegation made in respect of the selection and appointment of Principals made under Notification dated 29th September 2008. We are, therefore, not required to repeat or reiterate the said allegations in extenso.

5. Broadly speaking, in a nutshell, the challenge to the selection and appointment of the Principals in the constituent colleges of the University is on the grounds of procedural irregularities, favoritism and nepotism. The gravamen of the challenge is that the then Vice Chancellor of the University made the selection on extraneous considerations in utter disregard of the statutory procedure. Many of the persons selected were tainted or were not eligible for such appointment having regard to their academic career, experience, published articles etc.

6. Learned counsel Mr. Vinod Kumar Kanth has appeared for the appellants. Mr. Vinod Kumar Kanth has taken us through the impugned judgment and the records. He has vehemently argued that the learned single Judge has recorded the averments made by the writ petitioner. The decision is based on such averments alone. In other words, the learned single Judge has not considered the defence put forth by the University and the contesting respondents. The learned single Judge has failed to record the findings in respect of each allegation made against the University and the individual respondents. Mr. Vinod Kumar Kanth has relied upon Section 57(1) of the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976 as amended by the Bihar Act 21 of 2007 and by the Bihar Act 3 of 1990. He has also relied upon the Statutes 7 and 13 of the Statutes.

7. Learned advocate Mr. Amresh Kumar Singh has appeared for the writ petitioner. He has supported the judgment of the learned single Judge. Mr. Singh has relied upon the judgment of the Hon’ble Supreme Court in the matter of Indra Sawhney v. Union of India, (A.I.R. 1993 SCC 477) and of this Court in the matters of Md. Daud Hassan vs. State of Bihar, {1995(1) PLJR 492}; of Dr. Bimal Prasad Singh vs. State of Bihar, {2011 (1) PLJR 1134}; of Dr. Om Prakash Singh vs. Bimal Prasad Singh, {2011 (2) PLJR 787}; of Dr. Rai Murari vs. Patna University, {2011(3) PLJR 92}. He has particularly relied upon the supplementary counter affidavit filed by the University. He has also submitted that even the reserved category candidates, if found meritorious, shall be placed in the general category list in order of their merit.

8. Learned counsel Mr. S.K. Ghosh has appeared for the University. He has supported the Appeals.

9. Learned advocate Mr. Kumar Kaushik has appeared for the State Government. He has contested the Appeals. He has relied upon Section 54 of the Act and the auditor’s report (@ p. 161).

10. As the matter relates to the selection and appointment of the Principals of the constituent Colleges of the University, we shall first examine the relevant provisions. The State of Bihar has enacted the Bihar State Universities Act, 1976 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) with a view to establishi