HC sets aside sacking of Mahendragarh varsity’s asst prof

Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Mahendragarh, March 15

The Punjab and High Court has set aside an order of the Central University of Haryana (CUH) about terminating the services of Manoj Kumar as an assistant professor in the Department of English and Foreign Languages.

Kumar was sacked on February 21 on the basis of a one-man inquiry committee that had found his PhD degree awarded by Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, not in accordance with the UGC regulations 2009.

The CUH on Friday withdrew the termination order in compliance with the HC’s order. University Registrar Ram Dutt confirmed this.

Kumar, who is also the president of the Teachers’ Association of the Central University of Haryana (TACUH), joined the service on Friday.

In the High Court, Kumar’s counsel pleaded that the university authorities did not serve a showcause notice on his client for personal hearing before issuing the termination order.

His sacking had courted controversy, with a member of the executive council (EC), CUH, and office-bearers of the TACUH claiming that Kumar’s termination was biased and unconstitutional.

“Kumar was terminated by mischievously applying the UGC regulations 2009 with retrospective effect against his PhD degree awarded in 2007. The CUH verified his certificates at the time of appointment and later confirmed his appointment on the completion of two years of service. Even, Gurukul Kangri Vishwavidyalaya certified that Kumar’s PhD degree was in accordance with the UGC regulations. In spite of that the CUH arbitrarily terminated his services,” said Rakesh Meena, secretary, TACUH.

He added that Kumar was targeted for pointing out irregularities in the appointment of the Registrar and the faculty.

Kumar said, “Being the president of the TACUH, I raised teachers’ issues and faced harassment for that. My services were terminated illegally, but the HC has given me justice.”