A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) filed in the Gujarat high court has challenged the lack of action against officials of Gujarat Vidyapith in connection with several illegal appointments made at various positions and illegal benefits given to a few employees since 2004. The court on Wednesday said that since the petition made several personal allegations against the registrar of Vidyapith, he be made a party in the case. The case will be heard by the bench again on next Wednesday.
The petition has asked the court to appoint an independent committee to fix responsibility of the people involved in the process of illegal appointments and take action against them. Aditya Gupta, counsel for the petitioner, argued that while the varsity dismissed the people who were illegally appointed by the registrar, it did not take any action against the officials who were involved in the process.
Gupta argued that this was despite the fact that a UGC committee had asked Vidyapith to take action against the erring officials first in 2017 and then again in 2018. A UGC expert committee that had visited the campus in 2017 had also pointed out that the university had taken action against employees who had received some benefits illegally but it did not take any action to fix responsibilities against those involved in the process of the illegal appointments. The panel had also noted that no administrative action was taken against the erring officials.
The UGC had sought that a high-level inquiry committee be formed to fix responsibilities and take action against officials. But, the petition argued, the varsity did not bother with the same as higher officials were involved in the process. It further argued that a CAG report in 2015 had also pointed out the various irregularities in the varsity but the report was not made public. The petitioner was also denied the report under RTI.
NO ACTION TAKEN
Aditya Gupta, counsel for the petitioner, argued that while the varsity dismissed the people were illegally appointed by the registrar, it did not take any action against the officials who were involved in the process.
