Garhwal Post Bureau
NAINITAL 21 Mar: The Uttarakhand High Court has ruled that the Vice-Chancellor of Govind Ballabh Pant University of Agriculture and Technology (GBPUAT), Pantnagar, does not have the authority to issue a chargesheet against any professor.
A Division bench comprising Chief Justice Manoj Kumar Gupta and Justice Subhash Upadhyay, while disposing of a petition filed by Professor Shivendra Kashyap, directed the university to immediately withdraw the disputed chargesheet. It may be recalled that Kashyap, a professor of Agricultural Communication and coordinator of the DST-TEC (Technology Enabled Centre), had approached the High Court seeking cancellation of the chargesheet dated February 5 and the departmental disciplinary proceedings initiated against him.
Appearing on behalf of Kashyap, advocate Vipul Sharma argued that under the Uttarakhand Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 2003, the appointing authority is also the disciplinary authority, and therefore the chargesheet must necessarily be issued and signed by the disciplinary authority and not by anyone else. He contended that in the present case the chargesheet was issued by the Chief Personnel Officer, allegedly acting on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, which was contrary to statutory provisions. He further submitted that Kashyap’s appointment was made by the university’s Board of Management and not by the Vice-Chancellor, hence the Vice-Chancellor had no power to issue the chargesheet.
The High Court, after hearing the matter, ordered that the disputed chargesheet be withdrawn forthwith. The Bench also clarified that if any fresh chargesheet is issued in future, the petitioner will be free to challenge it in accordance with law.
