SC's no to urgent hearing of plea against appointments in AMU

The Supreme Court today 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."
An alumni of the university has filed the appeal

challenging the Allahabad High Court's October 16, 2015 order holding there was "nothing wrong with the procedure" adopted in the appointment of present VC whose tenure ends next year and a search is already on for his successor.
The appointment of Shah as VC of AMU on May 11, 2012 was challenged on the ground that according to the regulations of University Grants Commission (UGC), the VC ought to have worked for at least 10 years as a professor in a university or on an equivalent post in a research or academic institute.
It has been argued by the petitioner before the high court that the regulations - which pertained to minimum qualifications and maintenance of standards in higher education - had become binding on the AMU when it had adopted these on December 6, 2010.