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1974 Supreme(Del) 197
High Court Of Delhi
S.S.GOYAL - Appellant
Versus
UNIVERSITY OF DELHI - Respondent
Civil 1135 of 1972
Decided On : 09/20/1974
P.P.Rao, S.N.CHOPRA
Election rules for the Academic Council of the University of Delhi must be framed by Statutes, and any rules made under Ordinances or resolutions of the Executive Council are ultra vires.
Headnote:
ELECTION - University of Delhi - Academic Council - Election of 10 teachers - Validity - Rules under which election was held - Validity - Constitution of Academic Council - Validity.
Fact of the Case:
Petitioners, claiming to be teachers of the University of Delhi, challenged the validity of the election of 10 teachers of the University to the Academic Council, the rules under which the election was held, and the constitution of the Academic Council.
Finding of the Court:
1. The election rules relied upon by the respondents were ultra vires Sections 23 and 28 of the Delhi University Act, 1922, and no valid election could be held under those rules. 2. The Academic Council is a permanent body with diverse representation on it, and vacancies may occur in the Academic Council both with regard to ex-officio members and others. 3. A regular vacancy would be one which comes about by afflux of time, while a casual vacancy would be one which occurs otherwise than by the retirement in rotation pointed out by the previous articles. 4. The election of respondents 4 to 12 was not invalid because the election was held piecemeal. 5. The Academic Council as a whole was not unlawfully constituted and all its acts and proceedings transacted since September 18, 1972, were not illegal and void.
Issues: 1. Whether the election rules relied upon by the respondents were ultra vires Sections 23 and 28 of the Delhi University Act, 1922? 2. Whether the Academic Council is a permanent body with diverse representation on it, and vacancies may occur in the Academic Council both with regard to ex-officio members and others? 3. Whether a regular vacancy would be one which comes about by afflux of time, while a casual vacancy would be one which occurs otherwise than by the retirement in rotation pointed out by the previous articles? 4. Whether the election of respondents 4 to 12 was invalid because the election was held piecemeal? 5. Whether the Academic Council as a whole was unlawfully constituted and all its acts and proceedings transacted since September 18, 1972, were illegal and void?
Ratio Decidendi: 1. The rules for election to the Academic Council could only be framed by Statutes. No such rules have been framed and, as held by a bench of this court in S. S. Goel's case, the rules relied upon cannot supplant the statutory requirements. 2. The Academic Council is charged with certain statutory duties and most important and vital function of the University inasmuch as this authority controls and regulates and is responsible for the maintenance of standards of instructions, education and examination etc. which, after all, is the primary function of the University. 3. A regular vacancy would be one which comes about by afflux of time. If a vacancy occurs in membership by resignation, death, incapacity etc. it would be a casual vacancy. 4. The election of respondents 4 to 12 was not invalid because the election was held piecemeal. Rule XIII is not very happily worded but (in my view) the only workable, interpretation that can be placed on this rule is that if the number of persons seeking election is less than the seats to be filled those persons subject to their being validly nominated would be declared elected and further dates would be fixed for election to the remaining vacant seats. 5. The Academic Council as a whole was not unlawfully constituted and all its acts and proceedings transacted since September 18, 1972, were not illegal and void. It is not shown that if any of the constituents of the Academic Council are not present or are not nominated or elected the Academic Council as such would cease to exist.
Final Decision: 1. The election rules relied upon by the respondents were ultra vires Sections 23 and 28 of the Delhi University Act, 1922, and no valid election could be held under those rules. 2. The election of respondents 4 to 12 to the Academic Council was quashed. 3. A writ was issued to respondents 1 to 13 to hold elections for filling the seats reserved for "teachers of the University" in accordance with law.
( 1 ) BY this petition under Article 226 of the Constitution of India the petitioners, who claim themselves to be "teachers of the University," seek to challenge the validity of, (a) the election of 10 teachers of the University of Delhi to the Academic Council of the Delhi University, (b) the rules under which the said 10 teachers of the University were elected to the Academic Council and (c) the constitution of the Academic Council.
( 2 ) THE Delhi University has been constituted under and by virtue of the provisions of the Delhi University Act, 1922, hereinafter referred to as the Act. By virtue of the provisions of sub-section (2) of Section 3 the University shall have perpetual succession and a common seal and shall sue and be sued by the said name, namely, University of Delhi. This statutory body is to have officers mentioned in Section 8 and certain statutory authorities set out in Section 17. One of the authorities of the University is the Academic Council and yet another is the Executive Council. Section 21 provides that the Executive Council shall be the executive body of the University, and its constitution and the terms of office of its members, other than ex-officio members, shall be prescribed by Statutes. Similarly, Section 23 lays down :
"the Academic Council shall be the academic body of the University and shall subject to the provisions of this Act, the Statutes and the Ordinances, have the control and genenad regulation, and be responsible for the maintenance of standards of instructions, education and examination within the University, and shall exercise such other powers and perform such other duties as may be conferred or imposed upon it by the Statutes. It shall have the right to advise the Executive Council on all academic matters. The constitution of the Academic Council and the terms of office of its members, other than ex-officio members, shall be prescribed by the Statutes. "
( 3 ) SECTION 25 sets out that subject to the provision of the Act, the constitution, power and duties of the authorities of the University shall be provided for by the Statutes. Section 28 lays down that subject to the provisions of the Act, the Statutes may provide for all or any of the matters enumerated in Section 28. Two such matters for which Statutes may be framed are :
(A) the constitution, power and duties of the Court, the Executive Council, the Academic Council, the Finance Committee and such other bodies as may be deemed necessary to constitute from time to time;
(B) the election and continuance in office of the members of the said bodies, including the continuance in office of the first members, and the filling of vacancies of members, and all other ma,tters relative to those bodies for which it may be necessary or desirable to provide.
( 4 ) SECTION 29 lays down that on the commencement of the Delhi University (Amendment) Act, 1943, Statutes of the University shall be those set out in the Schedule. Sub-section (2) of this section gives power to the Executive Council to make new or additional statutes or amend or repeal the existing ones. If any Statute is to be made or amended or repealed affecting the status, powers or constitution of any authority of the University, the Executive Council is enjoined not to make, amend or repeal any such Statute until the authority affected has been given an opportunity of expressing an opinion in writing on the proposed changes and that opinion has been considered by the Executive Council. A further restriction vis-a-vis the Academic Council is that no Statute can be changed, made or repealed by the Executive Council except with the prior concurrence of the Academic Council which may affect the powers, duties and constitution of the Academic Council and other matters set out in the second proviso to sub-section (2) of Section 29 of the Act.
( 5 ) SECTION 30 of the Act authorises making of sta,tutes and ordinances regarding certain matters. I have already noticed h
