SC reprieve for Rajan Welukar

Bhushan said there was already a search committee in place to examine everything afresh and hence no intervention was required.

In a reprieve for Mumbai University Vice-Chancellor Rajan Welukar, the Supreme Court Friday stayed the orders of the Bombay High Court, which sought to reconsider his eligibility criteria to hold the post.

A bench of Chief Justice H L Dattu and Justice A K Sikri noted a “prima facie” case in favour of Welukar, and asked the High Court to keep its hands off the matter till the time the Supreme Court finally decides his appeal.

“When judges of the High Court have also differed on the issue, we definitely see a case for us to consider. The order of the High Court has to be stayed,” said the bench, while admitting Welukar’s special leave petition, argued by senior advocate Skehkhar Naphade.

Naphade’s plea for an interim order was protested by advocate Prashant Bhushan, who represented PIL petitioner A D Sawant, on whose plea the High Court had recently directed a Search Committee to reconsider the question of the eligibility of Welukar for the post of vice-chancellor.

Bhushan said there was already a search committee in place to examine everything afresh and hence no intervention was required at this stage. The bench however turned down Bhushan’s plea, saying it had to stay the operation of the High Court order in view of the facts of the matter and hear it at length.

An uncertainty however prevailed over the fact if the order by the Supreme Court would enable Welukar resume his duties since he had been asked by Maharashtra Governor Vidyasagar Rao to abstain from attending the office and discharging his duties as the V-C with immediate effect.

The Governor, who is the Chancellor of Universities in the state, had taken the decision in the backdrop of adverse orders passed by the High Court over Welukar’s eligibility qualification. But Welukar’s petition has not challenged the Governor’s order and hence there is no explicit order on staying the Governor’s direction.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com

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