K'taka HC stays Prof Lokanath's appointment as VC of Mysore University
Bengaluru, June 22: A single-judge bench of the High Court of Karnataka has stayed the appointment of Prof Lokanath N K as the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Mysore. Prof Sharath Ananthamurthy, the Professor, School of Physics, University of Hyderabad had challenged the appointment alleging that it was in violation of rules.
It is alleged that Prof Lokanath faces criminal charges and is not qualified for the post. On Wednesday, the Court ordered the interim stay and adjourned the hearing.
''The 5th Respondent (Prof Lokanath) is not eligible to be considered for the post of Vice-Chancellor his candidature has been rejected by notifying his name in the merit list on the ground that his appointment is in dispute and thus the search committee has recommended the names as per merit and forwarded to the State government,” the petition says.
However, the authorities in alleged contrast to Clause 7.3.0 of the UGC regulations recommended his name in the panel, the petition alleges. Prof Sharath had filed his application for the post of Vice Chancellor on November 18, 2022.
Another applicant, Prof H Rajashekar had approached the HC challenging the remarks made against his name in the main list. The HC on March 6, 2023 disposed of that petition directing the authorities to appoint the VC strictly in accordance with rules. The Search Committee submitted a fresh list of three names that included the name of Prof Lokanath NK on March 16.
Prof Sharath, in his new petition before the HC has claimed that this was done despite Lokanath being ineligible. Lokanath was selected as the VC on March 23. Prof Sharath, has said that he is eligible for the post but was not considered.
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''The petitioner is fully eligible and qualified to be considered for selection and appointment as Vice- Chancellor as he does not suffer from any disqualification. Nevertheless the 5th Respondent who is otherwise ineligible has been selected and appointed and the same has resulted in overlooking the merit of the Petitioner which has resulted in denial of right of the petitioner being selected which in turn resulted in irreparable injury to the petitioner though he is eligible on all counts he has been denied,'' the petition alleged. Prof Sharath is the son of popular Kannada writer, the late UR Ananthamurthy.
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Single higher education regulator bill tabled in LS; Oppn flags ‘centralisation,' JPC likely
New Delhi: A bill to set up a 13-member body to regulate institutions of higher education was introduced in the Lok Sabha on Monday.
Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan introduced the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, which seeks to establish an overarching higher education commission along with three councils for regulation, accreditation, and ensuring academic standards for universities and higher education institutions in India.
Meanwhile, the move drew strong opposition, with members warning that it could weaken institutional autonomy and result in excessive centralisation of higher education in India.
The Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan Bill, 2025, earlier known as the Higher Education Council of India (HECI) Bill, has been introduced in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020.
The proposed legislation seeks to merge three existing regulatory bodies, the University Grants Commission (UGC), the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), and the National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE), into a single unified body called the Viksit Bharat Shiksha Adhishthan.
At present, the UGC regulates non-technical higher education institutions, the AICTE oversees technical education, and the NCTE governs teacher education in India.
Under the proposed framework, the new commission will function through three separate councils responsible for regulation, accreditation, and the maintenance of academic standards across universities and higher education institutions in the country.
According to the Bill, the present challenges faced by higher educational institutions due to the multiplicity of regulators having non-harmonised regulatory approval protocols will be done away with.
The higher education commission, which will be headed by a chairperson appointed by the President of India, will cover all central universities and colleges under it, institutes of national importance functioning under the administrative purview of the Ministry of Education, including IITs, NITs, IISc, IISERs, IIMs, and IIITs.
At present, IITs and IIMs are not regulated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Government to refer bill to JPC; Oppn slams it
The government has expressed its willingness to refer it to a joint committee after several members of the Lok Sabha expressed strong opposition to the Bill, stating that they were not given time to study its provisions.
Responding to the opposition, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju said the government intends to refer the Bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) for detailed examination.
Congress Lok Sabha MP Manish Tewari warned that the Bill could result in “excessive centralisation” of higher education. He argued that the proposed law violates the constitutional division of legislative powers between the Union and the states.
According to him, the Bill goes beyond setting academic standards and intrudes into areas such as administration, affiliation, and the establishment and closure of university campuses. These matters, he said, fall under Entry 25 of the Concurrent List and Entry 32 of the State List, which cover the incorporation and regulation of state universities.
Tewari further stated that the Bill suffers from “excessive delegation of legislative power” to the proposed commission. He pointed out that crucial aspects such as accreditation frameworks, degree-granting powers, penalties, institutional autonomy, and even the supersession of institutions are left to be decided through rules, regulations, and executive directions. He argued that this amounts to a violation of established constitutional principles governing delegated legislation.
Under the Bill, the regulatory council will have the power to impose heavy penalties on higher education institutions for violating provisions of the Act or related rules. Penalties range from ₹10 lakh to ₹75 lakh for repeated violations, while establishing an institution without approval from the commission or the state government could attract a fine of up to ₹2 crore.
Concerns were also raised by members from southern states over the Hindi nomenclature of the Bill. N.K. Premachandran, an MP from the Revolutionary Socialist Party representing Kollam in Kerala, said even the name of the Bill was difficult to pronounce.
He pointed out that under Article 348 of the Constitution, the text of any Bill introduced in Parliament must be in English unless Parliament decides otherwise.
DMK MP T.M. Selvaganapathy also criticised the government for naming laws and schemes only in Hindi. He said the Constitution clearly mandates that the nomenclature of a Bill should be in English so that citizens across the country can understand its intent.
Congress MP S. Jothimani from Tamil Nadu’s Karur constituency described the Bill as another attempt to impose Hindi and termed it “an attack on federalism.”
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