KOCHI: A division bench of the High Court on Wednesday upheld an order that set aside the extension of Dr Asha Kishore’s tenure as the director of the Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTI MST), Thiruvananthapuram. Her extension was set aside earlier by the Ernakulam Bench of the Central Administrative Tribunal (CAT). While dismissing the appeal filed by Dr Asha, the Bench comprising Justice A M Shaffique and Justice Gopinath P held that a fresh selection should be conducted.
The tribunal had set aside the extension order, issued by the president of Sree Chitra, on the ground that the institute body (IB) had not obtained the approval of the central government’s Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC). The Bench observed that, going by the statutory provisions, it might be true that the institute had the power to extend the tenure of its director, but such extension should be done with the prior approval of ACC.
“Since ACC approval had not been obtained, there was justification on the part of the tribunal in rejecting the plea of Dr Asha Kishore and therefore, necessarily, a fresh selection had to be conducted for filling the post of director,” court said.