'UGC Plays No Role In Appointing Non-Teaching Staff': High Court Quashes Termination Of Librarian By Gujarat Vidhyapith After 18 Years

The Gujarat High Court dismissed an appeal by Gujarat Vidhyapith challenging a Single Judge's order which had set aside the termination of a long-serving Assistant Librarian and directed payment of back wages and retiral benefits.

A Division Bench of Justice Bhargav D. Karia and Justice L.S. Pirzada was hearing a Letters Patent Appeal arising from an order passed in a writ petition filed by a former employee of Gujarat Vidhyapith.

At the outset, the Bench made it clear that UGC regulations do not govern non-teaching posts such as Assistant Librarian in the non-teaching cadre. Referring to an earlier Division Bench decision concerning Gujarat Vidhyapith itself, the Court reiterated:

“the said post of Lower Division Clerk and Library Assistant does not come under the University Grants Commission Regulations… the dispute involved… is an administrative issue of respondent No.1-Gujarat Vidhyapith for which UGC has no role to play.”

Relying on this position, the Court held that the University could not fall back upon alleged non-approval by the UGC to justify the termination.

Significantly, the Bench observed, “the appellant University could not have terminated the services of respondent No.1 after a lapse of almost 17 to 18 years.”

The Court found that the respondent had fulfilled the qualifications prescribed at the relevant time and had even complied with additional conditions imposed in her appointment order.

The aggrieved party, Raxaben, was appointed as Library Assistant in 1983 and, in 1989, was selected afresh as Assistant Librarian (Class-I), completing the required M.Lib. within the stipulated period. In 1996, she was appointed as Assistant Librarian (Lecturer), but after the UGC declined approval, she sought cancellation of the teaching post and was reverted in 2007 to the non-teaching cadre, where she continued and was granted selection grade.

In 2015, an audit objection alleged lack of NET/SLET and requisite qualifications. Following show-cause notices, her services were terminated on 30 November 2017 with a recovery order of over ₹75 lakh. The Single Judge set aside the termination, prompting the present appeal.

Appearing for the appellant-University, Advocate Udayan P. Vyas argued that the writ petition ought not to have been entertained without impleading the UGC, which according to him was a necessary party. It was further contended that the respondent lacked mandatory qualifications such as NET/SLET and that UGC approval was essential. The termination was justified in view of audit objections and non-approval by the UGC.

Advocate Mamta Vyas, appearing for the respondent, supported the Single Judge's order and submitted that the UGC had no regulatory role in appointments to non-teaching posts in Gujarat Vidhyapith.

The Bench first noted that the plea regarding non-joinder of the UGC was never raised before the Single Judge and was being urged for the first time in appeal. More importantly, after examining the statutory framework and earlier Division Bench precedent, the Court concluded that UGC regulations do not apply to non-teaching posts in Gujarat Vidhyapith. The decision of the University's Executive Council in appointing the respondent could not be said to be contrary to any UGC guideline.

Given that the respondent had served for nearly two decades and had complied with qualification requirements imposed at the time of appointment, the Court held that termination after 17–18 years was wholly unsustainable.

Accordingly, the Bench dismissed the appeal as devoid of merit.

Case title: GUJARAT VIDHYAPITH v/s RAXABEN ANILKUMAR PATEL & ANR.

R/LETTERS PATENT APPEAL NO. 1284 of 2025

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