The petitioner has sought that Mazhar Asif’s appointment as the vice-chancellor of Jamia Millia Islamia be declared illegal and arbitrary.
NEW DELHI: The Delhi High Court has recently asked the Central government and Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) University to respond to a petition challenging the appointment of Professor Mazhar Asif as the Vice Chancellor of the University.
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Justice Prateek Jalan issued notices to the Union Ministry of Education, JMI University, Professor Mazhar Asif, the President’s Secretariat, and the Search-cum-Selection Committee that was formed for the appointment process.
Vishal Kumar Rai, a practicing lawyer, filed the petition. He argued that the appointment was “a colourable exercise of power” and violated the JMI Act and the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations.
Rai alleged that the Search-cum-Selection Committee was “illegally constituted” and had made “arbitrary recommendations” for the post.
Furthermore, Rai contended that “there was illegal interference by the Union Ministry of Education in the appointment process.”
Representing the University, Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma questioned whether Rai had the legal standing to file the petition.
He raised concerns over “the maintainability of the petition on point of his locus.”
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Sharma also expressed doubts regarding
“the authenticity of documents annexed to the petition by Rai.”
On the other hand, Advocate Amit George, representing Rai, argued that
“since JMI University is under Central government, a petition challenging the appointment can be filed by any citizen without setting out the locus in filing the petition.”
He also clarified that “the annexed documents in the petition were obtained through a publicly available source.”
The Delhi High Court has issued notices to the respondents, but it noted that the petition is “subject to the objection on the point of maintainability.”
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The next hearing for this matter is scheduled for July 16.
Legal Representation
- For the Petitioner: Advocates Amit George, Rakshita Goyal, and Ibansara Syiemlieh.
- For the Central Government: Standing Counsel Monika Arora with Advocates Subhrodeep Saha and Prabhat Kumar.
- For JMI University: ASG Chetan Sharma with Standing Counsel KK Mishra.
- For Professor Mazhar Asif: Advocates Sandeep Kumar Mahapatra, Sugam Kumar Jha, and Tribhuvan.
- For Visitor’s Nominee and Members of Executive Council: Advocates Ankur Chhibber and Nikunj Arora.
Case Title: Vishal Kumar Rai Vs Union Of India & Ors
