Silchar, Oct 17: The Gauhati High Court has quashed Dr Rajive Mohan Pant’s appointment as Assam University Vice-Chancellor, ruling that he failed to meet the eligibility criteria under the UGC Regulations, 2018, and ordering a fresh selection within four months.
The court also directed the appointment of an eligible interim Vice-Chancellor, while protecting the salary and allowances already drawn by Pant during his tenure.
Reacting to the verdict, Assam University Registrar Dr Pradosh Kiran Nath told The Assam Tribune that the university would await a certified copy of the order and directions from the Union Ministry of Education before deciding on its next course of action.
Nath emphasised that the university was not the appointing authority and would need the ministry’s guidance on implementing the judgment.
“The appointing authority is the ministry, while the appointment is made by the President of India, the Visitor, on the ministry’s recommendation. The selection committee is constituted by the ministry, not the university,” he said.
According to Nath, the university learnt about the verdict through WhatsApp and social media and would require a certified copy of the order before taking any formal decision.
“Once we receive the certified copy, we will formally write to the ministry seeking an early direction. We will also take legal advice and consult senior professors before deciding on the next course of action,” Nath said.
He said the ministry, as the appointing authority, would have to guide the university on the implications of the judgment. The ministry or Pant could consider challenging the verdict before a higher court, he added.
“The case is not directly against the university. The matter concerns the appointing authority rather than the institution itself,” Nath said.
The judgment was delivered by Justice N Unni Krishnan Nair in response to a writ petition, WP(C)/7283/2025, filed by Dr Samira Behera, Professor of Mathematics and former head of department at Assam University. Behera had challenged Pant’s eligibility for the post.
Court rejects combining two periods of service
At the centre of the dispute was Regulation 7.3(i) of the UGC Regulations, 2018, which requires candidates for the Vice-Chancellor’s post to have at least 10 years of experience as a Professor in a university or in a senior academic administrative position at a reputed research or academic institution.
According to the records examined by the court, Pant had served for less than seven years as a Professor at the North Eastern Regional Institute of Science and Technology (NERIST) in Arunachal Pradesh and for approximately six and a half years as Director of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD) in Guwahati.
Neither period independently met the prescribed 10-year requirement.
Pant’s side argued that his lien on the professorial post at NERIST, which he retained while serving as NIRD Director, allowed the two periods to be combined to satisfy the eligibility criteria.
The High Court rejected this argument, relying on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Prof Narendra Singh Bhandari vs Ravindra Jugran. It held that the two eligibility routes were mutually exclusive and could not be combined to meet the prescribed requirement.
The court also clarified that retaining a lien on a professorial post did not amount to continuous service as a Professor.
Selection process under scrutiny
The High Court also flagged procedural lapses in the selection process. It noted that concerns about Pant’s eligibility had been raised but were neither resolved nor recorded in the final minutes of the Search-cum-Selection Committee.
The court further found that the absence of mandatory written assessments of candidates’ credentials violated Regulation 7.3(ii) of the UGC framework.
On these grounds, the court set aside Pant’s appointment order dated January 14, 2022, and directed the authorities to appoint an eligible interim Vice-Chancellor and complete a fresh selection process within four months.
However, the judgment protected the salary and allowances Pant had already received during his tenure.