ORDER :

1. This is a petition filed by the petitioner challenging the notice of the first respondent dated 23.9.2025 and for a consequential direction to the first respondent to produce and publish the sealed cover containing the result of the CAS interview so as to enable the petitioner to continue as a Syndicate Member for the entire tenure.

2. Heard both.

3. The case of the petitioner is as follows :

(i) The petitioner is working as an Associate Professor of Sanskrit and he is also in-charge of Head of the Department (HOD) from 2011 to 2014 and continues to serve in the same position till date. He was appointed as a Member of the Senate for a period of three years on 09.9.2022. As per the Syndicate Rules, elections were duly conducted for selecting the members of the Syndicate and accordingly, results were published on 26.6.2024, in which, the petitioner has been selected as one among the six Members to the Syndicate by the Senate for the period commencing from 26.6.2024 ending on 25.6.2027.

(ii) An interview was held on 01.9.2025 for 77 candidates including the petitioner under the Career Advancement Scheme (CAS). The petitioner also appeared for the interview and according to the petitioner, he was selected and this fact was communicated to him orally by the Committee. Thus, the petitioner has been promoted as a Professor and since he is the only candidate, he will also become the HOD.

(iii) The results of the interview were declared for 72 candidates and orders were also duly passed under the CAS whereas the result of the petitioner was deliberately withheld to ensure that the tenure of the petitioner as the Senate Member came to an end on 09.9.2025 and thereby deprived the petitioner from continuing in the Syndicate. Thus, the petitioner alleges colourable exercise of power.

(iv) Thereafter, the first respondent, through communication dated 23.9.2025, informed the petitioner that consequent to the cessation of the membership in the Senate on 08.9.2025, the membership in the Syndicate, Syndicate Sub-Committees and other Committees also ceases on 08.9.2025. It is under these circumstances, the above writ petition came to be filed before this Court.

4. When the writ petition was entertained on 03.10.2025, an interim protection was granted and it was subsequently extended on 27.10.2025.

5. Pursuant to that, the first respondent filed a counter affidavit for himself and on behalf of the second respondent and also filed WMP. No.45079 of 2025 seeking to vacate the interim protection granted on 03.10.2025. In the counter filed by the respondents, they took the following stand :

(i) The petitioner, upon cessation of his tenure in the Senate, also lost his membership in the Syndicate as per the relevant provisions under the Madras University Act, 1923 (for short, the Act) and the University Calender, Volume I, Chapter XII, Paragraph 1(6)(b)(i) and Chapter XI, Paragraph 9(2)(c).

(ii) The respondent - University denied the stand taken by the petitioner that his result was orally announced. The minutes of the Selection Committee for all those candidates, who appeared for the interview under the CAS, have been kept in a sealed cover and are pending presentation before the Syndicate. Only after the Chairman opens the sealed covers during the Syndicate meeting, the results will be formally declared. This Syndicate meeting is yet to be convened.

(iii) The respondent - University completed the interview for 72 candidates under the Screening-cum-Evaluation Committee and the petitioner falls under the purview of the Selection Committee since he is seeking promotion to the post of Professor. Four other candidates also fall under this category and their results are pending declaration.

(iv) The petitioner, who ceased to be a Senate Member, is continuing his membership in the Syndicate by virtue of the interim orders passed by this Court and the petitioner is seeking to continue in that position anticipating that he attained the position of a Professor an