Dr. Smt. Urmila Srivastava vs State Of U.P.& 3 Ors.
2013 Latest Caselaw 6964 ALL

HIGH COURT OF JUDICATURE AT ALLAHABAD
 
 

Reserved
 
Court No. 33
 

 

 

 
Case :- WRIT - A No. - 53739 of 2013
 

 
Petitioner :- Dr. Smt. Urmila Srivastava
 
Respondent :- State Of U.P.& 3 Ors.
 

 
Counsel for Petitioner :- R.P.Mishra, Sandeep                                         
 
                                       Agrawal, Sandeep Saxema
 

 
Counsel for Respondent :- C.S.C.,Ram Gopal 
 
                                           Tripathi,Sailendra Jaiswal
 

 

 

 
						__________
 

 

 
Hon'ble Rajes Kumar,J.

Hon'ble Mahesh Chandra Tripathi,J.

( Delivered by Hon'ble Rajes Kumar, J.)

By means of the present petition, the petitioner has sought a writ of mandamus to the respondent no. 3 to decide her representations dated 27th August, 2013 and 2nd September, 2013, which are Annexures-7 and 8 to the writ petition.

In the representation dated 27th August, 2013, addressed to the Chairman, Arya Kanya Degree College, Allahabad, it is stated that the petitioner has been appointed as the officiating Principal of the College by the Governing Body of the Arya Kanya Degree College, by the resolution dated 23rd August, 2013, but when she went to the College on 26th August, 2013 to take charge of the Officiating Principal, she has not been allowed to join the post, though a request has been made by her to cooperate in taking the charge. In the other representation, dated 2nd September, 2013, it is stated that the term of Dr. Smt. Reeta Purwar, Officiating Principal, continued for ten years and as per the Gazette Notification of the University Grants Commission, dated 18th September, 2010, a Principal can hold the post for a maximum period of five years which may be extended for another period of five years. In this way, since she has completed ten years' term, therefore, now her term as Officiating Principal stands ceased. The Governing Body of the College, having regard to her seniority, merit and experience, has in its meeting dated 23rd August, 2013 has resolved to appoint her as the officiating Principal and an information in this regard has been sent to the Registrar of the Allahabad University. When the petitioner reached the College to take the charge of the Officiating Principal, Dr. Smt. Rama Singh has raised an objection that since the petitioner has not taken the charge within three days from the date of her appointment as the Officiating Principal, her appointment stands cancelled and a direction has been issued to Dr. Smt. Rama Singh to take the charge while Dr. Smt. Rama Singh, on being asked to produce the appointment letter, could not produce the same. It has been requested that to give effect of the resolution of the Governing Body, she may be allowed to take the charge of the Officiating Principal.

Though the Principal Secretary, Higher Education, Registrar, Allahabad University, Chairman Arya Kanya Degree College, Dr. Smt. Rama Singh have been impleaded as the party respondents in the writ petition, but Dr. Reeta Purwar, who is the affected party in case of any adverse order is being passed, has not been impleaded as a party respondent.

This Court vide order dated 30th September, 2013, disposed of the writ petition with the direction to the respondent no.3, that is, the Chairman of the Arya Kanya Degree College to consider the grievance of the petitioner and dispose of the representation within a period of four weeks.

Thereafter, Dr. Smt. Reeta Purwar, the Officiating Principal of the College, filed a Recalling Application and Impleadment Application on the ground that she is the Officiating Principal of the College and her appointment has been approved by the Vice Chancellor of the Allahabad University and the writ petition has been filed by the petitioner in collusion with the respondent no.3, Chairman of the College and Dr. Smt. Rama Singh, respondent no.4 to oust her from the post of the Officiating Principal. It is further stated that the Committee of Management has been superseded and an Administrator, Sri Suresh Chandra Verma, Advocate, is managing the affairs of the institution. When Sri Pankaj Jaiswal, claiming himself to be the Chairman of the alleged Governing Body, started interfering with the functioning of the applicant, a Suit No. 805 of 2010 has been filed in which an interim order has been granted by the Additional District Judge, Allahabad on 2nd February, 2010, restraining him from interfering in the working of the College. The said interim order is still continuing. In view of the aforesaid, she is a necessary party and any order, which would be passed shall affect her right.

Having regard to the facts and circumstances, this Court vide an order dated 4th October, 2013 has recalled its order dated 30th September, 2013 and also allowed the Impleadment Application, impleading Dr. Smt. Reeta Purwar as the respondent no.5.

Initially, the writ petition was filed by Sri R.P. Misra, Advocate, however, subsequently, Sri K.P. Shukla, Advocate, has put in appearance on behalf of the petitioner and filed the supplementary affidavit. Sri Sandeep SAxena, who put in appearance on behalf of Smt. Rita Purwar, newly impleaded respondent no.5, has filed the counter affidavit to which Sri K.P. Shukla has filed the rejoinder affidavit. Sri Sandeep Agrawal, appearing on behalf of respondent no.3, Pankaj Jaiswal, also filed the counter affidavit.

In the writ petition, it is contended that Arya Kanya Degree College is an Associated College, affiliated with University of Allahabad under the provisions of U.P. State University Act, 1973 and since 1st March, 1982, the payment of salary of the Teachers and employees of the College is being governed under Section 60(K), Sub-Clause (3) (b). The Ordinance dated 9th February 2008 (Ordinance XXXVIII): Constituent College) is also applicable in the matter of selection and appointments of Teachers (including Principals) in the constituent Colleges. The petitioner joined as the Lecturer in the Department of Sanskrit on 20th August, 1977 in the College and on 15th March, 1994, she has been promoted as the Reader. Dr. Smt. Reeta Purwar, who is the Officiating Principal of the College since 2001, has already completed the maximum tenure of ten years and as such cannot continue on the post in view of Part III, Section 4, of Sub Section 5.1.6 (d) of the UGC Gazette Notification dated 18th September, 2010 read with UGC Regulations dated 30th June, 2010. The Governing Body of the College, vide resolution dated 23rd August, 2013 appointed the petitioner as the Officiating Principal of the College pursuant to the UGC Regulations dated 30th June, 2010. In pursuance of the appointment of the petitioner pursuant to the resolution passed by the Governing Body of the College, when the petitioner went to the College to take the charge of the Officiating Principle, she has not been allowed to enter the office and she could not take the charge. The petitioner filed representations, referred hereinabove, to the respondent no.3 and when the same have not been decided, the present writ petition has been filed.

In the Supplementary Affidavit filed by the petitioner, it is stated that Arya Samaj Organisation was founded by Swami Dayanand Saraswati on 3.3.1849. Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Uttar Pradesh is a Society registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. According to byelaws of the society there are several Arya Samajs situated in different districts of the State of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The Arya Pratinidhi Sabha is being governed and controlled by the byelaws of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Uttar Pradesh. The byelaws of the society are registered and in accordance to Clause 8 of the byelaws the term of Antarang Sabha of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Uttar Pradesh is three years and the office bearers once elected are entitled to continue till new office bearers of Antarang Sabha of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha are elected. The last undisputed election of the Arya Prathinidhi Sabha was held on 28th March, 2010 by the Receiver, Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.C. Verma. Since the term of the society as provided under the byelaws is three years, fresh election was to be held in 2013. An election was held on 14th April, 2013 and a rival claim was set up by some members of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha by way of a fake and forged election of the society alleged to have been held on 23rd June, 2013. The Deputy Registrar, Firms, Chits and Societies accorded approval to the alleged election dated 23rd June, 2013. Aggrieved by the said order of the Deputy Registrar, Firms, Chits and Societies, dated 23rd June, 2013, Writ Petition No. 34934 of 2013, Dharmeshwar Nand and another v. Registrar, Firms, Socities and Chits and others, was filed wherein an interim order dated 9th July, 2013, staying operation of the order dated 23rd June, 2013 was passed against which a Special Appeal was filed, which was entertained, however, no interim order has been passed and the same is still pending. In compliance to the interim order dated 9th July, 2013, passed by this Hon'ble Court, the office bearers of the society, elected in 2010, are managing the affairs of the Society and they are in effective control. It is further stated that by the letter dated 26th July, 2013, issued by the Pradhan of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Uttar Pradesh Lucknow, Sri Pankaj Jaiswal has been appointed as the Chairman of the Governing Body of the Institution and by the said letter apart from the Chairman, eight other persons have also been appointed as the members of the Governing Body of the Institution. The Governing Body, nominated by Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, is managing the affairs of the Institution. The alleged Administrator, Sri Suresh Chandra Verma was appointed as the Administrator by the then Receiver, Hon'ble Mr. Justice Shailendra Saxena, who resigned from the post of Receiver in 2007 and thereafter Hon'ble Mr. Justice S.C. Verma was appointed as the Receiver of the parent Society. The appointment of Sri Suresh Chandra Verma as Administrator has been cancelled vide order dated 26th July, 2010, passed by the Pradhan of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Uttar Pradesh, Lucknow. It is also stated that the interim injunction dated 24th May, 2010, granted by the Additional District Judge, in Suit No. 805 of 2010 is void, ab initio.

The respondent no.5 filed the counter affidavit stating therein that the writ petition is wholly a collusive exercise of petitioner, respondent nos. 3 and 4 with the only objective to oust the respondent no.5 from the post of Officiating Principal. The respondent no.5 was appointed as the Lecturer in Arya Kanya Degree College on 1st February, 1981 on the substantive post. Being the seniormost Lecturer in the Institution, she was appointed as the Officiating Principal on 21st November, 2001 and her appointment has been approved by the Vice Chancellor of the Allahabad University also and since then she is working as the Officiating Principal of the Institution. She also stated that Dr. Smt. Rama Singh neither has been appointed as the Officiating Principal of the College nor has ever been asked to work as the Officiating Principal of the College. In Paragraph 19 of the counter affidavit, it is stated that the Governing Body of the Institution stands superseded till date. On 15th September, 2007, Sri Suresh Chandra Verma has been appointed as the Administrator of the College for running the affairs of the College, who by the letter dated 16th December, 2007 has informed the Vice Chancellor, Allahabad University about his appointment. The then Vice Chancellor of the Allahabad University, Prof. R.G. Harshe made an endorsement on the said letter officially permitting Sri Suresh Chandra Verma to join the post of Administrator and perform his duties in Arya Kanya Degree College. The Administrator is still performing his duties as there is no valid and legal Governing Body of the Institution. Reference is made to the letters dated 20th October, 2011 and 23rd January, 2012, issued by the University of Allahabad addressed to the Administrator of the College. There is no Governing Body of the College as yet and there is no Chairman, Arya Kanya Degree College, Mutthiganj, Allahabad. The letter issued by Sri Pankaj Jaiswal, claiming himself to be the Chairman of the Arya Kanya Degree College is without any authority of law inasmuch as he has no concern about managing affairs of Arya Kanya Degree College. It is further stated that till date the Committee of Management/Governing Body of Sri Pankaj Jaiswal has not been recognised by the University. It has been stated that the Gazette Notification of the University Grants Commission, dated September 18, 2010, relates to the regular Principal working on a substantive appointment and it does not apply in the case of Officiating Principal.

Learned counsel for the respondent no.5 submitted that Arya Kanya Degree College is affiliated with the University of Allahabad, which is a Central University and it has its own statute and the Ordinance. Ordinance XXXV relates to the constituent College. Sub-Clause (i) is a definition clause. Society is defined under Sub Clause (viii) and Clause 2(a) defines the Governing Body. Clause 5(a) provides constitution of the Governing Body, which provides that the Governing Body shall consist of the Chairperson and eight other persons, not being employees of the College or the Principal of any other College, nominated by the founder members of the Society from amongst themselves, or, in the case of a College maintained by Government, nominated by Government and three persons nominated by the Vice-Chancellor, one each from panels of names drawn up for the purpose, separately, by the Academic Council and the Executive Council, and one from amongst serving or former Professors of the University.

Learned counsel for the respondent no.5 submitted that till date, three members to be nominated by the Vice Chancellor have not been nominated and, therefore, no legally constituted Governing Body exists. This fact has been admitted by Pankaj Jaiswal, respondent no.3, who filed Writ Petition No. 52237 of 2013, seeking a direction to the Vice Chancellor/Registrar to appoint members of the Governing Body as per Clause 5(a) (ii) and (iii) of the Ordinance XXXV of the University of Allahabad. In the said writ petition, it has been averred by Pankaj Jaiswal that earlier Arya Samaj Chowk (Prayag) was managing the Arya Kanya Degree College, but after coming of University of Allahabad Act, 2005, the Ordinance of the University of Allahabad prescribes that all Degree colleges affiliated to Allahabad University not maintained by the Government shall be maintained by the Society, and all the rights of the Society, and the authority to exercise all the powers thereof, shall vest in the Governing Body. In order to comply the Ordinance XXXV of the University of Allahabad, the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha had appointed eight members of the Governing Body and a Chairman in order to constitute the Governing Body of the Arya Kanya Degree College, Mutthiganj, Allahabad. As per Clause 5(a), the Society has made a representation to the respondent nos. 2 and 3 to appoint other members of the Governing Body of Arya Kanya Degree College, mentioned in Clause 5(a), (ii) and (iii) of the Ordinance of the University of Allahabad. It has also been stated that a detailed representation has been given to respondent no.3 regarding appointment of other members of the Governing Body of Arya Kanya Degree Collge Society as per Clause 5(a), (ii) and (iii) of Ordinance XXXV of the University of Allahabad and appointment of the regular Principal, but till date no action has been taken by the respondent. It has also been stated in the writ petition that the University has yet not nominated three members in the Governing Body as a result of which functioning of the College is being affected.

Learned counsel for the respondent no.5 submitted that the avements made in Writ Petition No. 52237 of 2013 clearly go to show that no legally and validly constituted Governing Body has yet not come into existence. Since there is no legally constituted Governing Body in existence, the respondent no.3 has no authority to hold the meeting of the Governing Body on 23rd August, 2013 as claimed by him nor any resolution appointing the petitioner as the Officiating Principal of the College can be passed. The whole action on the part of the respondent no.3 is arbitrary, illegal, without jurisdiction, without having any authority and full of malafide, only with a motive to remove respondent no.5 from the post of Officiating Principal in collusion with the respondent no.4. He submitted that Sri Suresh Chandra Verma has been appointed as the Administrator of the College by the then Receiver Hon'ble Mr. Justice Shailendra Saxena and he is still continuing as the Administrator and is managing affairs of the College.

During the course of the hearing, we have summoned the record of Writ Petition No. 52237 of 2013, filed by Pankaj Jaiswal, respondent no.3, herein, and perused the same. We asked the counsel for Pankaj Jaiswal, respondent no.3, herein, to file an affidavit. Sri Sandeep Agrawal, learned counsel for the respondent no.3, filed the affidavit of Sri Pankaj Jaiswal. We have passed the following order on 24th July 2013 and asked Sri Jaiswal to file the counter affidavit.

"Arya Kanya Degree College is affiliated with the Allahabad University which is a Central University and is governed by the University of Allahabad Act, 2005. Ordinance No. 35 relates to constituent colleges. Society is defined by Clause 8 of Ordinance-1. The Society being registered under the Societies Registration Act, Clause 5(a) provides for the constitution of the Governing Body. Under Clause 5(a)(ii), three persons are to be nominated by the Vice Chancellor. One each from the panels of names drawn up for the purpose, separately, by the Academic Council and Executive Council and one from amongst serving or former Professors of the University.

It is the admitted by Sri Pankaj Jaiswal who claimes to be the Chairman of the Arya Kanya Degree College that the three persons has not yet been nominated by the University. Seeking the mandamus to appoint members of the Governing Body, a writ petition being Writ Petition No. 52237 of 2013 has been filed which is pending in this Court. In the present writ petition, the petitioner has enclosed a copy of the letter dated 23.8.2013 issued by Pankaj Jaiswal, Chairman in favour of the petitioner wherein it has been stated that since Dr. Smt. Reeta Purwar has worked as Officiating Principal for more that 10 years, therefore, in her place in the meeting of a Governing Body dated 23.8.2013, it has been unanimously resolved by the Resolution No. 2 to appoint you as an Officiating Principal. When according to Sri Pankaj Jaiswal claiming himself to be the Chairman, the three members have not been nominated by the Principal, the valid Governing Body could not come in existence then how a Governing Body has held the meeting on 23.8.2013 and passed the Resolution stated above.

Let Sri Pankaj Jaiswal, who claims to be the Chairman, file the Affidavit in this regard. Sri Pankaj Jaiswal is represented by Sri Sandeep Agrwal, learned counsel. Sri Sandeep Agrawal states that he may be allowed two days' time to file the reply.

Put up on Tuesday i.e. on 29.10.2013 as 'Unlisted'.

Matter has been heard in part. A Photostat copy of the Resolution dated 23.8.2013 has been provided to the Court by Sri Sandeep Agrwal which is place on record."

A counter affidavit has been filed by Sri Pankaj Jaiswal through his counsel, Sri Sandeep Agrawal. In paragraph 4, 6 7 and 8 of the counter affidavit following has been stated:

"4. That Arya Pratinidhi Sabha Uttar Pradesh Lucknow is a registered society under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and is running and managing various school and colleges throughout the State of U.P.

6. That in pursuance of the authority given by the society, the deponent has filed the Writ Petition No. 52237/2013, Arya Pratinidhi Sabha and others vs. Union of India wherein he has sought for issuance of the writ of mandamus directing the University of Allahabad to nominate other members as per clause 5(a)(ii) and (iii) and appointment of regular Principal who shall be Ex. Officio Secretary of the governing body as per clause 5(a)(v).

7. That though the other members of the governing body has not been nominated by the Vice Chancellor of the University of Allahabad, the deponent as per the authority given by the Society is looking after the interest of Arya Kanya Degree College, Mutthiganj, Allahabad.

8. That in a resolution dated 23.8.2013, the deponent came upon the guidelines of the U.G.C. Dated 30.6.2010 wherein in the Clause 5.1.6 (d) it has been stated that the term of the appointment of the college principal shall be 5 years within the eligibility of reappointment for one more term only i.e. the term of the Principal cannot be for more than 10 years. As such, it was resolved that since the appointment of the officiating principal Smt. Rita Purwar who was appointed in the year 2001 has come to an end, hence, senior most teacher Dr. Urmila Srivastava was appointed as Officiating Principal."

Sri V.K. Singh, Senior Advocate, appearing on behalf of the University, submitted that till date there is no proposal for recognition of the elected Governing Body, which is pending with the University. The University has yet not recognised any of the Governing Bodies, claimed to have been formed in 2013 by the rival parties. He further submitted that there is no alleged proposal for nomination of three members of the Governing Body to be nominated by the University under Clause 5(a) (ii) and (iii) of the Ordinance of the University, which is pending. He further submitted that the respondent no.5 was made the Officiating Principal in the absence of any permanent Principal and her appointment was approved by the University for the purposes of disbursement of the salary of the Teachers and Employees of the Institution.

When affidavits have been exchanged and hearing concluded, Sri K.P. Shukla, learned counsel for the petitioner requested that the petitioner may be permitted to withdraw the writ petition.

We have considered rival submissions and perused the materials on record.

It appears that there is a society in the name of Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, Uttar Pradesh, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. It has its own bye-laws. It runs several Arya Samajs, situated in different districts of the States of Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. In Allahabad, the society is named as Arya Samaj Chowk (Prayag). There is a Degree College known as Arya Kanya Degree College, which is being run by the Governing Body of the Arya Samaj Chowk (Prayag). There appears to be some dispute with regard to the election of the Society and Committee of Management and the matter is sub judice in the Court. We are not concerned about such dispute. However, admitted fact is that there is no legally and validly constituted and recognised Governing Body of Arya Samaj Chowk (Prayag) to run the Degree College and manage its affairs.

Arya Kanya Degree College is a Degree College affiliated with the Allahabad University, which is a Central University. University of Allahabad has its own statutes and Ordinance. Ordinance XXXV relates to the constitution of the College. Clause (i) is a definition Clause. Clause (ii) defines "Governing Body" and Clause (viii) defines "Society", which read as follows:

"(ii) "Governing Body", means the Governing Body of the Society and the College;

(viii) "Society" means the Society, registered under the Societies Registration Act, 1860, and recognised by the University as the body exercising responsibility for exclusively maintaining and developing and exclusively managing, supervising and administering the affairs of the College, through the Governing Body."

Clause 2(a) of the Ordinance provides as follows:

"2(a) Every College, not being a College maintained by Government, shall be maintained and developed by a Society, which shall also, subject to the provisions of sub-clause (f) of clause 3, manage, supervise and administer the affairs of the College, and shall fulfil the other conditions laid down by, or specified in, this Ordinance (including the SCHEDULE) and the other instruments:

Provided that the Society shall not maintain or manage any institution other than the College and the College shall not be affiliated, or otherwise associated, with any other University, institution or authority for conducting any course of study, or for any other purpose, and shall not organise or offer instruction in courses of study other than those approved for it by the University:"

Clause 5 (a) of the Ordinance reads as follows:

"5.(a) The Governing Body shall consist of the following members-

(i)the Chairperson and eight other persons, not being employees of the College or the Principal of any other College, nominated by the founder-members of the Society from amongst themselves, or, in the case of a College maintained by Government, nominated by Government.

(ii)three persons nominated by the Vice-Chancellor, one each from panels of names drawn up for the purpose, separately, by the Academic Council and the Executive Council, and one from amongst serving or former Professors of the University;

(iii)one person of eminence in academic or public life, not being a person associated with or in the service of the University or the Society, nominated by the Vice-Chancellor:

Provided that in the case of a College maintained by Government, such person shall not be associated with, or in the service of, the University or Government;

(iv) three University Recognised Teachers of the College, by rotation in the order of seniority, of whom one shall be a teacher with a regular service of less than ten years:

Provided that a teacher with regular service of less than ten years, who completes the period of ten years of such service after entering office as member, shall, nevertheless, continue as member for the remainder of his term of one year; and

(v) the Principal, who shall ex officio be the Secretary of the Governing Body.

     (b)All nominations under serial numbers (i) to    (iii) 	of sub-clause (a) shall be reported to the 	Executive Council.
 
              (c)	The term of office of the members 	of the	Governing Body under serial 	numbers (i) to (iii) of sub-clause (a) shall be 	three years and under serial number (iv) 	thereof shall be one year.
 
           (d) In the case of a College not maintained 	by	Government, the members of the 	Governing Body, 		other than the 	members under serial number (i)of 		sub-	clause (a), shall, for the duration of 	their 	membership of the Government Body, be ex 	officio members of the Society.
 
             (e)A person shall be disqualified for being      	chosen as, and for being, a member of 	the 	Government Body if he or his relative accepts 	any	contract for the supply of goods or 	services 	to, or for the execution of any work 	for, the College, or accepts any remuneration 	for any work 	in or for	the College:
 
        Provided that nothing in this sub-clause 	shall apply to----
 
(i)	the payment of salary or other remuneration or allowance to a members of the Governing	Body under serial numbers (iii) and (iv) of sub-clause (a), or to such relative of any member of 	the Government Body as is an employee of the College;
 
(ii)	the payment of travelling, halting or other allowance to any member of the Governing Body or 	to a relative of such member.
 
(f)	The provisions in respect of the disqualification of members of the Governing Body, further to 	those set out in sub-clause (e), and of the vacation of office by such members, shall be as may 	be prescribed by, or under, the Memorandum and the Rules.
 
(g)	If any question arises whether any person has been duly chosen as, or is entitled to be, a 	member or office-bearer of the Governing Body, or whether the Governing Body is duly 	constituted, the matter shall be referred to the Vice-Chancellor whose decision thereon shall be final."
 

 
	Clause  7(f) provides for the appointment of the Officiating Principal, which reads as follows:
 

"(f) If the office of the Principal becomes vacant, due to death, resignation or otherwise, or the Principal is absent on leave or any other cause for a period exceeding two months, the Governing Body may appoint any teacher, who fulfils the qualifications for the post, to officiate as Principal for a period of six months or until (as the case may be) a new Principal, appointed regularly, enters office or the Principal resumes the duties of his office, whichever is earlier:

Provided that in case the new Principal does not enter office, or the Principal does not resume his duties, by the expiry of such period of six months, the senior-most teacher of the College, who fulfils the qualifications for the post, shall officiate as the Principal:

Provided further that any such officiating arrangement shall be reported by the Principal forthwith to the Registrar, and shall be subject to the concurrence of the Vice-Chancellor:

Provided also that if the Principal is absent on leave, or for any other cause, for a period not exceeding two months, the senior-most teacher of the College, who fulfils the qualifications for the post of Principal, shall look after the duties of the post in addition to his own duties.

It will also be useful for the purposes of proper adjudication of the case to refer Clause 5.1.6 of the Gazette of India Notification dated September 18, 2010, issued by the University Grants Commission, which reads as under:

 
	"5.1.6	College Principal
 
	(a)	The Selection Committee for the post of 		College Principal shall have the 				following 	composition:
 

 
1.Chairperson of the Governing Body as Chairperson.
 
2.Two members of the Governing Body of the college to be nominated by the Chairperson of whom one shall be an expert in academic administration.
 

3.One nominee of the Vice Chancellor who shall be a Higher Education expert. In case of Colleges notified/declared as minority educational institutions, one nominee of the Chairperson of the College from out of a panel of five names, preferably from minority communities, recommended by the Vice-Chancellor of the affiliating university of whom one should be a subject expert.

4.Three experts consisting of the Principal of a college, a Professor and an accomplished educationist not below the rank of a Professor (to be nominated by the Governing Body of the college) out of a panel of six experts approved by the relevant statutory body of the university concerned.

5.An academician representing SC/ST/OBC/Minority/Women/Differently-abled categories, if any of candidates representing these categories is the applicant, to be nominated by the Vice Chancellor, if any of the above members of the selection committee do not belong to that category.

(b) At least five members, including two experts, should constitute the quorum

(c)All the selection procedures of the selection committee shall be completed on the day of the selection committee meeting itself, wherein, minutes are recorded along with the scoring proforma and recommendation made on the basis of merit with the list of selected and waitlisted candidates/Panel of names in order of merit, duly signed by all members of the selection committee.

(d) The term of appointment of the college principal shall be FIVE years with eligibility for reappointment for one more term only after a similar selection committee process.

From perusal of the aforesaid provisions, it is apparent that the College has to be managed by the Society through the Governing Body duly recognised by the University. The Governing Body can be of office bearers of the Society or a separate Governing Body as per the bye-laws of the Society. The copy of the bye-laws has not been provided by the learned counsel for the petitioner. However, from the precedent, it appears that a separate Governing Body is being formed by the process of election to govern the Arya Kanya Degree College. All the parties have admitted that there was an election of the Society, which took place in 2010. The term of the Governing Body is three years, therefore, the elections took place on 14th April, 2013 and 26th June, 2013, as claimed by the rival parties and the matter with regard to approval of such Society is in dispute and is still sub judice, as referred hereinabove, and as such no legally and validly constituted Committee of Management has come into existence.

As stated by Sri V.K. Singh, learned Senior Advocate, appearing on behalf of Allahabad University, there is no proposal for the approval/recognition of any elected Governing Body, pending at the end of the University. There is also no request pending for the nomination of three representatives of the University in any of the Governing body. Unless, duly elected Governing Body is being recognised by the University, the question of appointment of three representatives by the University as required under Clause 5(a) of the Ordinance does not arise.

In Writ Petition No. 52237 of 2013, Sri Pankaj Jaiswal, respondent no.3, claimed to be the Chairman of the Governing Body, has not made any averment that any Committee of Management of Society formed by way of election has been approved by the Competent Authority and any proposal has been sent for approval of the elected Governing Body wherein he has been elected as the Chairman and such Governing Body has been recognised by the University. The writ petition has been filed with the averment that the Pradhan of the Arya Pratinidhi Sabha has nominated Sri Pankaj Jaiswal as the Chairman and eight other persons as members of the Governing Body and, therefore, a mandamus has been sought directing the respondents to nominate three representatives by the University as provided under Clause 5(a) of the Ordinance. This clearly establishes that no legally and validly constituted Governing Body came into existence.

It may be mentioned here that when the Committee of Management of the Society, i.e., the parent body, claimed to be constituted as a result of election by the two rival parties, has yet not been recognised by the competent authority and matter is sub judice, had the so called Pradhan of Arya Pratinidhi Sbaha can nominate Sri Pankaj Jaiswal as the Chairman and nominate eight persons as members of the Governing Body. However, we do not want to go into the deep in the matter as the same is not of much relevance at this stage.

It is matter of utter surprise that when legally and validly constituted Governing Body did not come into existence, how Pankaj Jaiswal, claimed to be the Chairman, had requisitioned the meeting of the Governing Body on 23rd August, 2013 and passed a resolution appointing the petitioner, Dr. Smt. Urmila Srivastava as the Officiating Principal. Holding of the meeting of the Governing Body, dated 23rd August, 2013 and passing the resolution, appointing Dr. Smt. Urmila Srivastava, as the Officiating Principal of the College is perse illegal, without jurisdiction, unwarranted and full of malafide. The Court has no hesitation in observing that Sri Pankaj Jaiswal, who has no authority to call the said meeting of the Governing Body and to pass the said resolution, acted wholly in an illegal manner with a malafide intention.

We have also perused Clause 5.1.6 of the Government Gazette Notification dated September 18, 2010, issued by the University Grants Commission. Sub-clause (d) relates to the tenure of the regularly appointed Principal on the substantive post and not with regard to the term of the Officiating Principal. Therefore, the claim of the petitioner that the term of the respondent no.5, who is the Officiating Principal, after expiry of ten years, in terms of sub-clause (d) of Clause 5.1.6 of the said Gazette Notification ceased, is wholly erroneous. The entire procedure for the appointment of the Officiating Principal is provided under Clause 7 of the Ordinance. There is no allegation that the respondent no.5 has not been appointed as the Officiating Principal in accordance to the procedure provided under Clause 7 of the Ordinance of the University.

On the facts and circumstances, we are of the view that the present writ petition has been filed by the petitioner with an ulterior motive in collusion with Pankaj Jaiswal, respondent no.3 and respondent no.4 to take charge of the Officiating Principal in an illegal manner and to oust the respondent no.5. Having regard to the conduct of Pankaj Jaiswal, respondent no.3, we are of the view that such a person should not be allowed to be associated with any activities/affairs of the management of the College and should be debarred from the membership of the Society and the Governing Body. Necessary action may be taken in this regard by the concerned authority/body.

We may also observe that in the present case, the conduct of the petitioner is also not found to be fair inasmuch as she colluded with Pankaj Jaiswal, who claimed himself to be the Chairman of a non-existing illegally constituted Governing Body of the College, to grab the post of the Officiating Principal of the College, therefore, we propose that necessary action be taken against her also. Since no serious allegation has been made against the respondent no.4, therefore, we refrain from making any comment against her, however, it will be open to the authority concerned to take action against her if in enquiry she is also found guilty and part of the collusion.

Before parting, we may state that it is a matter of utter surprise that since more than ten years, there is no permanent/regular Principal. In view of the above, we direct the Vice Chancellor/Principal Secretary, Higher Education to initiate process to appoint permanent Principal of the College, expeditiously, in accordance to law.

In view of what has been discussed above, the writ petition, being devoid of merits, fails and is dismissed with cost which we quantify at Rs.50,000/= (Rupees Fifty Thousand only).

Order Date :- 13.11.2013

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