Wait for appointment order continues

BANGALORE: The appointment orders of seven persons for the post of Professors in University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE) have been withheld since 2008, even after the Higher Education Department ordered Bangalore University (BU) to issue appointment orders to the candidates.The order issued by the Principal Secretary, Education Department dated September 2, a copy of which is with The New Indian Express, clearly directs Bangalore university to issue appointment orders to the candidates within seven days.“The reason for the delay in the issue of appointment orders is Vice-Chancellor Dr N Prabhu Dev, who is creating confusion about the marks for interview round,” said Prof K V Acharya, a Syndicate member.According to Section 53(6) of the Karnataka State Universities (KSU) Act, 2000, out of a total of 60 marks, 20 marks are reserved for the interview round.However, the VC is referring to the judgment of a 1985 case (Ashok Kumar Yadav vs State of Haryana) wherein the Supreme Court ruled that the interview marks should be less than 20, making this as a base for the denial of the appointment orders.“But I can show several other cases where the Supreme Court has ruled that interview marks more than 20 is acceptable. Why is the VC not considering those cases?” Prof Acharya questioned.He added that any changes to the interview marks, the VC is making, would be applicable only for future applicants.“These candidates were interviewed in 2008, before Prabhu Dev became the vice-chancellor,” Prof Acharya pointed out.Dr U N Kempaiah, Prof Deepa Shenoy and five others were appointed through open selection in February 2008 for the posts of Professors at UVCE. The posts were for Mechanical, Civil and Computer Science faculties."While some of these candidates have become Professors via time-bound promotion, statutes in KSU Act, 2000, clearly say that open selection is more superior compared to time-bound promotions,” claimed Prof Acharya, adding that some of the candidates’ seniority has lessened compared to other open selection candidates.“In reply to the Government order, Prabhu Dev has brought up the 1985 Supreme Court case just to deny these candidates their rightful posts,” added Prof Acharya, accusing VC Dr N Prabhu Dev of displaying a personal bias towards the candidates.When The New Indian Express asked BU Vice- Chancellor N Prabhu Dev about the Supreme Court case he has been using as a ground to deny appointment orders, he said: “I do not know about these legal matters.BU is merely acting as per the order of the court. Please ask the court what the order is.”