Dehradun: The Uttarakhand High Court, while deciding a long-pending dispute over staff regularisation at HNB Garhwal University, has held that once an institution is converted from a state university into a central university, it is governed by the Central Universities Act, 2009, and the provisions of the UP State Universities Act, 1973, cease to apply.
Background of the Case
The petitioner, who was appointed as a part-time teacher in 1991 when the institution was still a state university, challenged a decision of the university’s executive council (EC) taken after its conversion into a central university. While upholding the EC’s decision, the court on Friday took note of the petitioner’s long and uninterrupted service and granted him liberty to submit a fresh application for regularisation within two weeks. It directed the competent authority to consider the representation sympathetically and take a decision within eight weeks.
Key Legal Issue
The key issue before the court was whether the provisions of the UP State Universities Act, 1973, continued to govern the university after its conversion. In 2011, the EC had held that the 1973 Act ceased to apply following the institution’s transformation into a central university. The petitioner argued that resolutions passed by the EC in 2003 and 2006, aimed at regularising his services, should remain valid and that they had created a legitimate expectation of regularisation.
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About the Author
Pankul Sharma, a journalist based in Dehradun, Uttarakhand, with over 22 years of experience in the field of journalism. Currently serves as a special correspondent. He covers the Judiciary (High Court, NGT, Consumer Commission, and Tribunals), Archaeology, Culture, and Industry.
