A recommendation by the Syndicate does not equate to a formal decision for extending the tenure of a Registrar, and the Chancellor's authority must be adhered to as per statutory provisions.

JUDGMENT :

S.N. Pathak, J.

Prayers

The petitioner has approached this Court with a prayer for quashing Advt. No. 23/2023 (Annexure-9 to the writ petition) as floated by the respondent-JPSC for appointment of Registrar in Kolhan University.

Further prayer has been made for quashing the letter dated 03.04.2023 (Annexure-6/1 to the writ petition) issued by respondent No. 2 by which the notification dated 21.03.2023 has been cancelled with further direction to the Vice-Chancellor not to take any policy decision.

Petitioner has also prayed for direction upon the respondents to immediately and forthwith allow the petitioner to continue as Registrar, Kolhan University, Chaibasa till the matter is subjudice before this Court.

Facts of the Case

2. Shorn of unnecessary details, the petitioner was appointed on 19.07.2001 as a Lecturer in Computer Science at New Delhi Institute of Information Technology where he worked till 2007 and thereafter, he was again appointed on 14.03.2007 as Assistant Professor in Swami Vivekanand Subharti University, Meerut and after working for few years he was promoted to the post of Associate Professor and Professor on 01.03.2009 and 27.12.2011 respectively. The petitioner worked there till 25.03.2017 and thereafter, went to South Africa on lien to teach in a University as Professor from 2017 to 2019.

It is the case of petitioner that an Advt. No. 02/2019 was floated by the respondent-JPSC for appointment to the post of Registrar, in Nilamber Pitamber University and in Clause-2 of the said advertisement it has been stated that in terms of the Statute the appointment will be a direct recruitment for a period of 4 years and it may be extended for further 4 years by the order of the Syndicate. The petitioner finding himself eligible in all respects applied and faced interview and thereafter has been selected as Registrar by the respondent-JSPC which will be evident from letter dated 12.09.2019, which is the recommendation of the respondent-JPSC. The Syndicate in its 53rd meeting approved the appointment of petitioner and accepted his joining as Registrar, Nilamber Pitamber University, Medininagar, Palamau which will be evident from letter dated 19.11.2019. On being appointed, the petitioner took charge on 19.11.2019 itself from one Dr. Rakesh Kumar. Thereafter, on 19.09.2020, the State Government transferred the petitioner with the same tenure period and scale as Registrar to the Kolhan University, Chaibasa from Nilamber Pitamber University, Medininagar, Palamau.

3. It is the further case of petitioner that he made a representation before lapsing of his extension period for giving him extension in terms of the Statute as well as in terms of Clause-2 of the JPSC advertisement as contained in Annexure-1 to the writ petition and accordingly, in the meeting of Syndicate held on 03.03.2023, vide Agenda No. 80-07/23, the Syndicate approved the petitioner’s extension for further 4 years. On 21.03.2023, in terms of decision taken by the Syndicate and also in the light of Statute, the extension has been granted to the petitioner and notification to that effect was issued and circulated for communication to all the persons concerned. Subsequently, on 03.04.2023, the respondent No. 2 issued a letter to the Vice-Chancellor and stated that the Vice-Chancellor cannot take any decision in the matter of extension of service of Registrar without approval of His Excellency the Governor-cum-Chancellor of the Universities. On the same day, vide notification dated 03.04.2023, the extension granted to the petitioner has been cancelled by respondent No. 2. Thereafter, on 27.04.2023 the petitioner made a representation to the respondent No. 2 for giving extension to his tenure to work as Registrar but the same went in vain.

4. It is the further case of petitioner that the respondent-JPSC came out with Advt. No. 23/2023 but from bare perusal of the said advertisement it is evident that post of Registrar in Kolhan University was not advertised ini