Delhi High Court Dismisses Appeal Challenging Appointment Of Prof Najma Akhtar As VC Of Jamia Millia Islamia

The Delhi High Court on Thursday dismissed the appeal challenging the appointment of Dr. Najma Akhtar as the Vice-Chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia.

A division bench comprising of Justice Rajiv Shakdher and Justice Talwant Singh upheld a single-judge order passed on March 05, 2021, which dismissed a plea challenging her appointment.

The single judge had said that the court cannot sit in appeal over the decision taken by varsity’s Search Committee.

The appeal was filed by M. Ehtesham-ul-haque, an alumni of the Faculty of Law of the varsity. He was represented by Advocate Mobashshir Sarwar.

It was his case that the Search Committee had to comprise of persons of eminence in the sphere of higher education and that Justice (Retd.) M.S.A. Siddiqui did not fit the requirement of the Regulations framed by University Grants Commission in 2018.

"Because the learned Single Judge failed to appreciate vis-a-vis Justice (Retd.) MSA Siddiqui that an academic question which should be left to be decided by the academicians and educationists as they are better equipped to decide such matters in view of their expertise and experience which cannot be possessed by the Judges,” the appeal stated.

Furthermore, M. Ehtesham-ul-haque also contended that the Selection Committee was required to give reasons for selecting Akhtar as the Vice Chancellor and that the Ministry of Human Resource Development had no role to play in recommending persons to be included in the Selection Committee.

"...in the present case the purported Committee seems to have inexplicably delegated this function to MHRD. Not only is such a delegation legally unsustainable inasmuch as a body which has already been delegated certain powers, as in the case of Search Committee, could not further sub-delegate, any facet of such powers to another entity, as is exemplified by the delegation of the aspect of suitability/eligibility in terms of the Vigilance Clearance to the Ministry of Education, erstwhile MHRD,” the appeal added.

It was also submitted that the adverse vigilance report submitted by CVC regarding Dr. Najma Akhtar was not taken into consideration by the Search-cum-Selection Committee.

On the other hand, it was the stand of Union of India and the varsity that Justice (Retd.) Siddiqui was fit to be a part of Selection Committee owing to his previous experience of being a Chairperson of the National Commission for Minority Educational Institution.

It was also submitted that the Committee was not required to give reasons for recommending a panel consisting of suitable names and that the recommendation itself would be sufficient.

About the Single Judge Order

The single judge had observed that M. Ehtesham-ul-haque was unable to show that any express provision of either the UGC Regulations or the JMI Act had been flouted while making the Dr. Nazma Akhtar as the varsity’s Vice-Chancellor.

"Rather the scope is limited to judicial review of the decision whereby the Court is only concerned with whether the incumbent possessed qualifications for the appointment and the manner in which the appointment came to be made or whether the procedure adopted was fair, just and reasonable,” the single judge had said.

Title: M EHTESHAM UL HAQUE v. UNION OF INDIA DEPARTMENT OF HIGHER EDUCATION MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEPARTMENT THROUGH ITS SECRETARY & ORS.

Citation: 2023 LiveLaw (Del) 416

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