The Punjab and Haryana excessive court docket has dismissed a petition difficult 2017 appointment of Dheeraj Sharma, director of the Indian Institute of Administration (IIM), Rohtak.
The court docket stated that petitioners who filed plea in opposition to Sharma appeared “front faces” of the 2 workers, whose companies have been terminated by Sharma. (Getty Photographs/iStockphoto)
The excessive court docket bench of justice Kuldeep Tiwari additionally put aside a show-cause discover issued to him over alleged concealment of educational {qualifications}, served upon him by the Centre in 2022.
Dheeraj Sharma was appointed in 2017. His first time period because the IIM-Rohtak director got here to an finish on February 9, 2022, and in the identical yr, he bought a second time period on February 28. The petition difficult his appointment was filed by one Amitava Chaudhary and others, in 2019 in search of quashing of his appointment.
The court docket stated that petitioners who filed plea in opposition to Sharma appeared “front faces” of the 2 workers, whose companies have been terminated by Sharma.
The court docket stated that Search-cum-Choice Committee (SCSC) constituted by the Ministry of Human Useful resource Improvement (MHRD), was empowered to advocate the names of candidates shortlisted on account of their eligibility standards and in addition from the class of “eminent persons”.
“…the SCSC recommended the name of Dr Dheeraj Sharma for appointment to the post of director under the category “nomination from eminent person”, and that, the SCSC was nicely empowered to take action,” the court docket stated. There isn’t any wrangle amongst the contesting litigants that Dheeraj Sharma didn’t possess a firstclass Bachelor’s diploma, the requirement for the put up of director. But the advice of his identify was made by the search committee primarily based on consideration of his resume, it added.
“… (it) clearly speaks in volume that, it was recommended absolutely under the category “nomination from eminent person”. This may be clearly inferred from the intra-departmental communications,” the court docket stated.
The court docket additional stated Memorandum of Affiliation of IIM, Rohtak and different related guidelines go away no room for any doubt that, the appointing and disciplinary authority to the put up of director was the Board of Governors (BoG) and never the MHRD.
“Consequently, this court has no hesitation to hold that, the MHRD did not have any jurisdiction to serve the impugned show cause notice, and that, the impugned show cause notice suffers from the vice of lack of able jurisdiction,” it stated, referring to 2022 notices served upon the director by the Centre on allegations about his instructional qualification.
Notably, in March, the Centre ordered a probe into allegations of monetary bungling at IIM Rohtak in the course of the tenure of Sharma. The probe would additionally look into the problem of alleged concealment of significant details about the educational qualification of the director, a difficulty handled by the court docket on this petition as nicely.
The probe was ordered by the President of India, who can also be “visitor of the institute” and holds the very best decision-making authority over majority of centrally run establishments. The event was the primary such motion by the Centre after amendments have been made to the IIM Act in 2023 to make the President the Customer of IIMs.