C'garh HC quashes extension of HNLU VC's tenure

The Chhattisgarh High Court quashed the extension given to Vice Chancellor of the Hidayatullah National Law University (HNLU), Raipur on the grounds that the recommendation for his extension was granted based on a statute that had not come into effect.

A division bench of Justices Goutam Bhaduri and Sanjay Agrawal quashed the extension of Dr Sukh Pal Singh while hearing a petition filed by Dr Avinash Samal, an assistant professor of the same university, petitioners' lawyer Amrito Das said.

Dr Sukh Pal Singh is presently serving a five year extension that was granted in 2016.

Earlier, a single bench of the HC had dismissed Samal's petition following which he had approached the double judge bench.

As per the order, Dr Sukh Pal Singh was appointed the vice chancellor of the HNLU by an order on March 5, 2011 for a period of five years or till the age of 65, whichever is earlier.

However, during his tenure, an amendment was incorporated on April 11, 2014 which enhanced the upper age limit from 65 years to 70 years.

Thereafter, a meeting of the Executive Council was convened on September 9, 2014 which recommended that Singh's tenure as VC be extended, Das said.

An amended notification in this connection was published on November 25 that year, he added.

The bench observed that the amendment to the statute would have come into effect only on the date of its publication in the official Gazette.

The Executive Council was thus empowered to recommend an extension for the VC on November 25, 2014 but not before that, the petitioner's lawyer said.