New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a petition against the Allahabad High Court order upholding the appointment of Professor Naima Khatoon as the first woman Vice Chancellor (VC) of Aligarh Muslim University. A bench of Justices JK Maheshwari and Vijay Bishnoi heard the case. The petition was filed by Professor Muzaffar Urooj Rabbani and Professor Faizan Mustafa.
Senior advocate Kapil Sibal represented the petitioners before the bench. Sibal cited the High Court’s observations and argued that the then Acting Vice Chancellor Professor Mohammad Gulrez, who was part of the Executive Council meeting that selected the name for the panel. His chairmanship and participation were considered inappropriate. Sibal said that this is the conclusion of the High Court. Gulrez is the husband of Professor Naima Khatoon.
Sibal argued that the High Court had clearly remarked that Gulrez should not have participated in the process. Sibal said that presiding over and participating in the process is improper. “If no notice has been issued in this case, then in which case notice will be issued, I don’t know… it is before you.” Sibal argued that his client is on the process and not on who should be appointed and who should not. “Please don’t do this. It is bypassing the entire law that has been in place for the last 70 years,” Sibal said. However, the bench made it clear to Sibal that it was not willing to consider his arguments in the matter. Justice Maheshwari said, “We are not doing anything.” On August 18, the Supreme Court had orally observed that the husband’s participation when the wife’s name is under consideration raises suspicion. The remark was made during the hearing of a petition against the high court order that upheld the appointment of Professor Naima Khatoon. The bench had orally questioned the appointment of Professor Khatoon. The bench had orally remarked that the former vice-chancellor should not have attended the meeting when his wife’s name was being considered. The bench said the high court had observed that it would have been better if the vice-chancellor had walked out of the proceedings and made the next senior person the chairperson.
Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati had emphasised the historic nature of Khatoon’s appointment. Bhati argued that it was partly selection and partly election. “The high court may not have agreed with our argument on election, but it has upheld her appointment,” Bhati said, adding that the petitioners had not challenged related appointments such as the provost.
Justice Chandran had offered to recuse himself from the case, citing his previous role as the university’s chancellor in a similar selection process. “When I selected Faizan Mustafa, I was the chancellor of CNLU (Consortium of National Law Universities). So I can recuse myself from hearing the matter,” Justice Chandran said.
Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that there is full confidence in Justice Chandran and there is no need for him to recuse himself from the hearing. After Justice Chandran recused himself from the hearing, the matter was listed before a bench headed by Justice Maheshwari today.
