'Service Can't Be Counted For Pension If Appointment Has Been Held To Be Illegal & Void' : Supreme Court Dismisses Review In KTU VC Case

The Supreme Court on Tuesday dismissed the petition filed by Dr.Rajasree MS seeking to review the judgment which set aside her appointment as the Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Kerala Technological University.

While rejecting the review, a bench comprising Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar observed that in the impugned judgment, the Court has not opined anything about the salary, emoluments and perquisites drawn by the petitioner and hence there is no question of review on that ground.

The bench further observed that the service cannot be considered for pension as the appointment has been found to be illegal and void ab initio.

"So far as the claim of pension on the ground that she would be entitled to for the services rendered of about four years is concerned, once the appointment is held to be illegal and void ab initio the services rendered cannot be considered/counted for the purpose of pension", the bench stated in the order.

It was on October 21 that the Court set aside the appointment of Dr.Rajasree made in February 2019 on the ground that the search committee had only forwarded one name to the Chancellor instead of a panel of names as prescribed under the UGC Regulations 2013. The argument that the appointment fulfilled the conditions of the state law -APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Act 2015- was rejected by holding that the UGC Regulations will prevail as they are framed under the central law.

Seeking review, Dr.Rajasree stated that she was highly qualified, having M. Tech degree and PhD from IIT Madras, and several research publications to her credit. The review petition, settled by former Attorney General for India KK Venugopal, stated that the petitioner was an innocent victim of the procedural faults committed by others. She sought a declaration that the judgment will only have a prospective effect and that there will be no recovery of salaries and other emoluments drawn by her during the period she rendered service.

The judgment in Dr.Rajasree's case had set off a chain of events against other VCs , with the Kerala Governor citing this precedent to ask the Vice Chancellors of eight other Universities to step down. Later, the Kerala High Court set aside the Governor's communication and directed that the VCs can continue till a final order for their removal is passed after they have been afforded an opportunity of hearing.

Case Title : Dr Rajasree MS vs Professor (Dr) Sreejith PS and others|Review Petition (C) Nos. 1442-1443 of 2022

Citation : 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 1023

Headnotes - Supreme Court dismisses the review against the judgment in Professor (Dr.) Sreejith P.S. v. Dr. Rajasree M.S. & Ors 2022 LiveLaw (SC) 871 which set aside the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Kerala Technological University in 2019

Service Law - Once the appointment is held to be illegal and void ab initio the services rendered cannot be considered/counted for the purpose of pension"

Click here to read/download the order