SCs no to urgent hearing of plea against appointments in AMU

New Delhi: The Supreme Court refused to accord urgent hearing to a plea seeking a direction to restrain the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) from issuing appointment letters to selected candidates for various posts including teachers in the varsity.

The plea was mentioned before a vacation bench of Justices A M Sapre and Ashok Bhushan which said that their is no urgency and the matter will come up for hearing in regular course.

Ramesh Kumar Mishra, counsel for petitioners Ashraf Mateen and others, said that it is urgent matter as appointment letters are being issued to different selectees by Vice Chancellor whose own appointment is under challenge before the apex court.

"There is no urgency in the matter. You are creating problems for others. Matter will come up for hearing in regular course," the bench said.

The petitioners who are Associate/ Assistant Professor serving at the AMU have in the petition sought quashing and setting aside the notification convening General Selection Committee (GSC) for various academic posts in Department/ Faculties of Engineering and Management of the varsity.

They have further challenged the recommendations of the committee made on June 25, 2015, by which the eligibility criteria for appointment for the post of Associate Professors have been allegedly arbitrarily watered down in violation of binding UGC Regulations 2010.

The selection of professors is to be done in various centres of AMU including at Kerala, West Bengal and Bihar.

"During pendency of challenge to his own appointment before this Court the present Vice Chancellor is in hurry to make selection and appointment of Cadre and CAS posts by prescribing lower qualifications, enabling unqualified and unfit persons to occupy said posts," the plea said.

The petition further said that "the committee prescribed qualifications reducing the minimum teaching experience from eight to five years and making the mandatory PhD qualification merely desirable for the post of associate professor."

Earlier, the apex court had asked whether a university can term itself a minority institution, while hearing the plea seeking a direction to quash the appointment of AMU vice-chancellor Lt Gen (Retd) Zameeruddin Shah.