SOME CASES OF INTERFERENCE IN
 AUTONOMY OF UNIVERSITIES
 [ASSOCIATION OF INDIAN
 UNIVERSITIES]
 

1. According to the amendment made in the Uttar Pradesh Universities Act in 1975, the new statutes of the Lucknow University empower the Chancellor of the University to remove the Vice-Chancellor from his office if the latter refuses to carry out the provisions of the Act or abuses the powers vested in him. While there appears nothing wrong with such provisions, it clearly indicates wide scope for manipulation and harassment of Vice-Chancellor.

2. The two ordinances promulgated in 1976 by the Government of Bihar empower the state to transfer the Vice-Chancellor or to direct him to resign from office under certain circumstances. Not only that, the Chancellor who in most of the University Centres is the appointing authority, has also taken himself to be the repository of powers which have deliberately not been defined ill the Act. There have been instances in the past few years where the Vice-Chancellors in a number of universities have either been suspended at the pleasure of the Chancellor or pressurised to resign or removed from office without even any enquiry as provided in the Act and Statutes. The Universities of Agra, Allahabad, Bombay, Udaipur, MDU and Bihar can be cited as few instances of such approach to handle University affairs. The most glaring recent case (1985) of such an act is in the State of Bihar where the Vice-Chancellors of all the 8 Universities were asked by the Chancellor to resign enmasse which was a unique act in the history of university education.

3. The Orissa Universities Laws Amendment Act of 1976 empowers the State Government of Orissa to supersede the administration of any university within the State, and to appoint an officer to be the Administrator of the University for one year (subject to a maximum of three years), if it finds on making an enquiry that the university's management is not or cannot be carried out according to the provision of the Act or if there is a default in the performance of the duties of the university authorities, which is not likely to promote its objectives.

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4. As per the ordinance of Government of Andhra Pradesh, the State has assumed the authority to nominate all the members of the university's Syndicate and Senate from the State Constituencies, doing away with the earlier practice of electing some of members of such bodies.

5. The Karnataka State Universities Act of 1976 is the most comprehensive legislation and has serious impact on university autonomy. In the matter of recruitment of teachers, the authority to make the appointments is vested in the Chancellor of the University, while the university will make the selection and submit its recommendations to the Chancellor. More significant is the provision that the Chancellor and not the university has the power to appoint the university's Registrar, the Finance Officer and Controller of Examinations.

6. According to an ordinance promulgated by the Government of West Bengal in 1976, the universities in the State must obtain the prior approval of the Government for increasing any unbudgeted liability, for changing the pay and emoluments of their employees and for creating new posts.

7. As per the ordinance of the Government of Andhra Pradesh the universities in the State must obtain prior approval of the Government to borrow money from a Bank or a Corporation and shall not divert earmarked funds for other purpose or implement any schemes which involve any matching contributions from the Government without prior written approval of the Government.

8. In Karnataka the State reserves to itself the authority to affiliate while the university will make all the enquiries about the proposed college and submit its recommendations to the Government.

9. From 1969 through 1980 at Allahabad University, 124 writ petitions, 15 appeals and 56 civil suits were filed in the Allahabad High Courts. In January 1981, the Kerala University Registrar estimated that between 75 and 100 cases challening university.actions were on file in the High Court. The Madras University High Court Advocate estimated that he litigates about 20 cases per year.

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