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SC directs Centre, IITs to follow reservation policy in recruitment of faculty members

The court was hearing a plea seeking direction to follow the reservation policy, claiming the guidelines were being violated.

ByPTI

Published Dec 19, 2022 | 4:04 PM ⚊UpdatedDec 19, 2022 | 4:04 PM

The petition has been listed for hearing before a bench comprising Chief Justice DY Chandrachud and Justices PS Narasimha and JB Pardiwala. (Creative Commons)

Supreme Court. (Creative Commons)

The Supreme Court on Monday, 19 December, directed the Centre to follow the reservation policy for admission in research degree programmes and recruitment of faculty members at IITs as provided under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019.

The top court was hearing a plea filed by one SN Pandey, seeking direction to the Centre and the IITs to follow the reservation policy with regard to admissions in research programmes and recruitment of faculty members, claiming the guidelines were being violated.

The matter came up before a bench of Justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar and it was informed that the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019 stipulates such reservation and it is being implemented.

“Counsel appearing on behalf of the respondent has pointed out that now in view of the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019, the reservation is provided with respect to all the Central Educational Institutions including the IITs.

“The respondents concerned are hereby directed to follow the reservation and act as per the reservations provided under the Central Educational Institutions (Reservation in Teachers’ Cadre) Act, 2019,” the bench said.

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The Act provides for quotas in teaching positions in central institutions for persons from Scheduled Castes/Tribes, socially and educationally backward classes, and those from economically weaker sections.

Seeks performance review committee

Pandey, in his plea filed through advocate Ashwani Kumar Dubey, had also sought directives for the creation of a mechanism for resolving harassment complaints by students/scholars related to research work and to constitute a committee of technical experts to review the performance of the existing faculty.

He had sought cancellation of the appointment of non-performing faculty due to violation of reservation norms and formulation of a transparent recruitment policy.

“It is submitted that the process of taking admissions in the research program and appointment of faculty members by the respondents (IITs) are completely unconstitutional, illegal and arbitrary. The respondents are not following the guidelines of reservation as per the constitutional mandate,” the plea said.

It claimed the IITs were not following a transparent process of recruiting faculty members which opened up a window for non-deserving candidates to enter the prestigious institutions through connections that increased the chances of corruption, favouritism and discrimination, affecting internal ranking and technological growth of the country.

“The respondents (IITs) are completely violating the reservation policies that provide for reservation to socially marginalised communities belonging to the SC (15 percent), ST (17 percent) and OBCs (27 percent),” the plea said.

(Disclaimer: Only the headline, subheads, and intro of this report along with the photos may have been reworked by South First. The rest of the content is from a syndicated feed)