MADURAI: In a peculiar case, the head of the department (HOD) of Marine Science and Technology of Manonmaniam Sundaranar University (MSU) challenged his own appointment as a member of the Screening cum Evaluation and Selection Committee constituted for choosing eligible faculty members for promotion under the Career Advance Scheme (CAS).
But, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court dismissed the petition saying no service condition was violated.
Justice SM Subramaniam, who passed the order, observed the HOD, V Samuel Gnana Prakash, had filed the petition aggrieved by the fact that his report against a faculty member, alleging plagiarism, was not considered by the university.
The judge opined the petitioner's appointment as a member of the committee was not in violation of any service conditions. "It is part of his job allotted by the university and therefore, the petitioner is expected to perform the duty. If he is of the opinion that he cannot perform such duty, then it will amount to dereliction of duty," the judge said and refused to entertain the petition.