HYDERABAD: Two public interest petitions were filed in the High Court challenging the amendments made by Telangana government to appoint people of its choice as chancellors and vice-chancellors of the Universities in the state.
Petitioner Dr D Manohar Rao, a retired professor of Osmania University, submitted that the rules framed by the state government will pave the way for IAS officers and even section officers at the Secretariat assuming office as vice-chancellors. The state has amended the pre-existing GOs, with retrospective effect under Section 101 of AP Reorganisation Act. He made all the varsities in Telangana as respondents to his plea.
When the matter came up for hearing before a bench comprising Acting Chief Justice Dilip B Bhosale and Justice A V Sesha Sai on Wednesday, petitioner's counsel S Sriram said that the state has brought in several GOs and legislations, conferring huge arbitrary power on itself to select chancellors of universities.
As for the vice-chancellors posts, the counsel said that the state has lowered the eligibility criterion. The lowering of norms by the state is unconstitutional since it does not have the power to act contrary to the UGC norms. In fact, the amendments made will dilute the functioning of the universities as institutions of excellence and affect their autonomy, he argued. The bench posted the matter to Thursday for further hearing.