Pachaiyappa’s trust told not to fill principal posts

CHENNAI: The Madras high court has halted the process to fill four principal posts in as many colleges under the Pachaiyappa’s trust, and directed the board not to proceed with the appointments until further orders.
Justice Bhavani Subbarayan, passing interim orders on a petition filed by K S Sridhar and G Karunamoorthi, stayed the operation of the board’s circular dated April 20 calling for applications to fill vacancies for the post of principal in four of the six colleges run by the board.
The petitioners alleged that the board had tweaked the circular to its advantage and was attempting to fill he positions illegally. The circular was issued on the basis of UGC regulations of the year 2000 instead of the updated 2010 version, they stated.
“For the past five years, the Board has not made proper appointments in accordance with law or followed the regulations,” the petitioners said, adding that there had been many malpractices in the previous appointments of assistant professors and lecturers which were already under challenge before the high court.
The petition further suggested that the appointment of N Shettu as principal of Pachaiyappa’s main campus in Chennai and M Sivarajan as principal of men’s college at Kancheepuram had been finalised by the trustees due to extraneous considerations. For the an assistant professor post, anywhere between Rs 17 lakh to Rs 20 lakh had been taken by the trustees, the petition claimed.
The board has already chosen four persons for the principal vacancies amd the selection process was an eyewash to cover a predetermined move, they said. Though there shall be a minimum period of seven days between the date of application and interview, the board commenced the selection process on May 7 in a hurried manner, just three days after the date of application, they said, seeking an interim stay on the circular.
Hearing has been adjourned to May 30.