Single judge order directing CBI to probe IIT app'ments stayed

The Madras High Court today stayed a single judge's order which had directed CBI to investigate appointments made in the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras to the post of lecturers between 1995-2000.
Passing the order, the First Bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Rajesh Kumar Agrawal and Justice M Sathyanarayanan, while directed the IIT to deposit within a week the entire arrears payable to its woman faculty member who had originally filed the petition.
The bench, which allowed the appeal filed by IIT, also issued a notice to counsel Radhakrishnan who appeared for the faculty member and posted the matter for further hearing to November 4.

W B Vasantha, appointed as a lecturer in 1988, alleged in her petition that there was caste-based harassment against her by the IIT administration. She said she was denied promotion as Associate Professor in 1995 and Professor in 1996 despite her higher educational qualification and research work.
Justice S Nagamuthu, who had heard the petition, ordered a CBI inquiry into the legality and the correctness of appointments made in IIT between 1995 to 2000.
IIT, in its appeal against the single judge order, submitted that merely because there was an error in selection, criminality cannot be aspired to the selection of Vasantha.

It further said the statute does not prohibit the management from constituting a committee with additional experts for selection.
When there was no allegation of malafide in non-selection of Vasantha for the post of Professor, the single judge could not interfere in the opinion of academic experts with international repute, the IIT contended.