Allahabad HC dismisses pleas challenging Prof Naima Khatoon’s appointment as AMU VC

On April 9, a division bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Donadi Ramesh had reserved its judgment

The Allahabad high court on Saturday dismissed three petitions challenging the appointment of Professor Naima Khatoon as vice chancellor of the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). In one of the petitions, petitioner Prof Mujahid Beg had alleged that there were irregularities in the appointment process in order to favour the particular candidate.

In one of the petitions, petitioner Prof Mujahid Beg had alleged that there were irregularities in the appointment process. (For Representation)

The petitioners had challenged the selection and appointment of Prof Khatoon primarily on the ground that her husband Prof Mohammed Gulrez was acting as vice-chancellor and had presided over the crucial meetings of the university’s executive council and the court wherein his wife was recommended for appointment to the post.

They had also claimed that it was not just a case of likelihood of bias on the part of Gulrez, but the proceedings had been manipulated to secure the selection and appointment of Khatoon.

Earlier on April 9, a division bench of Justice Ashwani Kumar Mishra and Justice Donadi Ramesh had reserved its judgment after hearing the counsel for the petitioner as well as those of the university and the central government.

In its order, the division bench stated: “We have already noticed that qualification of Professor Naima Khatoon to be appointed as the Vice-Chancellor is not in issue. Her ultimate selection is by the Visitor against whom no allegation of bias is made. She was erstwhile Principal of Women’s College of the University.”

“Merely because her husband was acting as vice chancellor and had presided and participated in the meetings of Executive Council and University Court which also recommended her name, in addition to others, for appointment as Vice-Chancellor cannot be a ground to interfere with her appointment as the first woman Vice-Chancellor of the University,” the court added.

“For the reasons and deliberations held above, we hold that discretion exercised by the Visitor in appointing Professor Naima Khatoon as the first woman Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University from a panel of three names recommended by the University Court merits no interference. Writ petitions are, accordingly, dismissed,” the court ordered.

Khatoon, who completed her PhD in psychology from AMU, was appointed as a lecturer in the same department in 1988 before being elevated to the professor’s post in 2006. She continued there before being appointed the principal of the Women’s College in 2014.