JUDGMENT : (per Mr. Subhash Upadhyay J.

1. The present public interest litigation has been filed with a prayer to issue a writ of Quo-warranto for quashing the notification dated 18.06.2025 whereby private respondent no.4 has been appointed as Vice- Chancellor of the H.N.B. Garhwal Central University (hereinafter referred to as “HNBG University”).

2. The petitioner who had earlier worked as an Assistant Professor (Guest Faculty) in the Department of Sociology and Social Work at the HNBG University resigned from the said post on 25.03.2021.

3. The petitioner, who claims to be an academician turned social activist has challenged the appointment of Prof. Shri Prakash Singh (respondent no.4) to the post of Vice-Chancellor of the HNBG University on the ground that the said appointment is in violation of the provisions of the Central Universities Act, 2009 and the University Grants Commission (Minimum Qualification for Appointment of Teachers and other Academic Staff in Universities and Colleges and other Measures for Maintenance of Standards in Higher Education Regulations, 2018 (hereinafter referred to as “UGC Regulations 2018”).

4. Learned counsel for the petitioner in support of his cont