BENGALURU: The Supreme Court stayed a Karnataka High Court order upholding an order quashing the appointment of Prof KR Venugopal as Vice-Chancellor of Bangalore University. The High Court order on March 17 upheld the order of a single judge bench, that had effectively quashed the appointment of the professor as the V-C. The order stated that the appointment had been made by the governor without the concurrence of the state government. Following multiple petitions, the Supreme Court stayed the order on Monday.
The vacancy of the V-C’s post in BU led to protests on the university campus, with functioning of the university coming to a standstill. Faculty and research student associations held protests, as salaries, promotions and approvals could not be done without a vice-chancellor.
The vacancy of over three weeks is the first ever in the history of the country, as no V-C posts have been vacant for over 10 days in Indian universities. The issue came to the forefront when Dr Sangamesh Patil, a contender for the same post, filed a petition questioning Prof Venugopal’s appointment. Following the Karnataka HC order of March 17, four special petitions questioning the order were filed with the Supreme Court by the professor, state government, governor and BU administration registrar.