Appointment row: Govt order non-executable, says UoM registrar R Rajanna

MYSURU: In a major twist to the

University of Mysore

non-teaching faculty appointment scam,

registrar

R Rajanna said directions of the state government and vice-chancellor's office are non-executable.

In his June 26 letter to the VC, Rajanna said that on perusal of the appointment order issued by the university, it was found that there are absolutely no employees appointed as non-teaching staff in December 2016. Hence, implementation of directions issued by principal secretary, higher education department as well as VC's office are non-executable.

Rajanna pointed out that these staff members were appointed for 11 months and were temporary in nature. Insofar as these 96 employees are concerned, their services have been terminated after 11 months. He said that even though the services had been terminated, they are re-appointed later. "They’re still working in the university. They were appointed when someone else was the registrar," he said.

Meanwhile, sources in the state higher education department said the registrar as well as acting vice-chancellor have no powers to write any letter to the state government about it. “The state government issued directions to the UoM to implement its decision. As per the rule book, the university acting VC should have called a special meeting of the syndicate and placed the government order for discussion and the approval. But, the university authorities have sent a letter to the state government which could lead to another tussle," said sources.

It may be recalled that the governor’s office in a letter on June 18 had asked the state government to terminate the temporary appointments and take appropriate action in accordance with law within 30 days and then submit a compliance report within 45 days. According to the authorities, all these staff members are still on the university payrolls.

Beside terminating the services, the state government has also directed in-charge VC to identify the authorities responsible for ‘illegal’ appointments and file criminal cases under the Prevention of Corruption Act and also under other applicable laws against those who responsible for abuse of office within a month.

Ploy to derail legal action?

The registrar's decision to write a letter to the Vice-Chancellor (I/c) stating the government order is non-executable came as a surprise to many in the higher education department. They suspect the letter is to divert attention from the main issue.

An officer of the state higher education department said that the principal secretary, state higher education department wrote a letter to the vice-chancellor and not the registrar. "As per the state universities act, the vice-chancellor should have called a meeting of the syndicate immediately and placed the government letter for discussion. Instead, the registrar writing the letter to the VC is uncalled for," he said.

What does the law say?

According to sources, the principal secretary has directed the VC to initiate action under the Karnataka State Universities Act, 2000 Chapter 8 (5). According to this clause, the state government shall direct the V-C to initiate such action as directed by the state government with respect to the findings in the report of inquiry or inspection and the Syndicate shall implement the directions of the Government.


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