Telangana HC refuses to stay faculty recruitment by NALSAR
Justice Mummineni Sudheer Kumar of the Telangana High Court declined to grant interim orders in a petition filed by Dr A Sridhar, an aspirant for the Assistant Professor (Law) position at NALSAR University. Dr Sridhar sought the suspension of the written test scheduled to take place on May 13, 2023, in response to alleged irregularities in the recruitment process.
The court, however, directed the Registrar of NALSAR University and the Law Secretary to submit their responses by the next day of the hearing, adjourning the case until June. The petitioner argued that NALSAR had provided only a 15-day notice period for interested candidates across India and those studying or working abroad to apply for the advertised positions. While the university extended the deadline by an additional 16 days, the petitioner claimed that the information was placed inconspicuously on the University’s website, without any corrigendum published in national publications.
Moreover, the petitioner highlighted a discrepancy in the timeframes offered by comparable institutions such as The National Law School, Bangalore and The National Law University, Delhi, where candidates were given at least one month in the original notification and a total of 45 days to apply during the previous year’s recruitment process.
Drawing attention to the recruitment announcement made by NALSAR University on May 2, 2018, he pointed out that the deadline for submitting applications was June 8, 2018. In contrast, this time, the institution quadrupled the number of positions available while shortening the application process.
The petitioner contended that NALSAR, in its entire existence, had never advertised as many positions as it did on this occasion, raising concerns about the university’s attempt to expedite the recruitment process clandestinely.
After a thorough hearing, the court issued notices to NALSAR, and the Law Secretary, seeking their respective responses on the matter. The case will resume in June.