HC sacks Ayurved Univ V-C days before tenure end

DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand high court on Wednesday ordered the dismissal of Dr Sunil Joshi from the post of vice-chancellor of Uttarakhand Ayurved University on the grounds that he did not have the necessary qualification for the post and his appointment was made in violation of UGC guidelines. Joshi was appointed the V-C four years ago, on September 12, 2019.The dismissal came weeks before his term was to end at the end of this month.
The division bench of Chief Justice Vipin Sanghi and Justice Rakesh Thapliyal issued the verdict during the hearing of a petition challenging Joshi's appointment to the V-C post. Haridwar resident Vinod Chauhan, the petitioner, said as per UGC norms, a minimum of 10 years of professorship is mandatory for appointment to the post of V-C, which Joshi did not have. The bench had earlier reserved the order, after completing the hearing in the matter last month.
In similar cases, the appointments of professor NS Bhandari as V-C of SS Jeena University in Almora and CS Nautiyal as V-C of Doon University were challenged. Bhandari had resigned from the post in November 2021, days before the verdict came against him, while Nautiyal was sacked in December 2019.
On the same grounds, the appointment of professor NK Joshi, who is currently serving as the V-C of Sri Dev Suman University, has been challenged in the HC and the matter is currently sub judice.