CHENNAI: The state government taking over the powers of appointing vice-chancellors will not be in conflict or repugnant with the UGC Regulations, 2018, as the V-C of a university is an officer of the university discharging administrative duties, Tamil Nadu government has told the Madras High Court.
The submission was made in a counter-affidavit filed by the higher education department before the first bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan when the petitions filed by advocate K Venkatachalapathy of Tirunelveli challenging the universities amendment acts came up for hearing on Thursday.
A division bench of the court, during summer vacation last year, had granted interim injunction against the operation of the acts which shifted the powers of appointing V-Cs from the governor to the state government. On appeal, the Supreme Court stayed set aside the order and directed the high court to assign the matter to another bench.
The counter-affidavit, filed through senior counsel P Wilson, stated that the petitioner proceeded on an erroneous presumption that a V-C is a teaching staff to apply the UGC Regulations, 2018.