HC scraps Rangarajan's appointment as NMMLS director

Noted political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan's appointment as the director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society has been quashed by the Delhi High Court on grounds of non-adherence to proper procedures.

Noted political analyst Mahesh Rangarajan's appointment as the director of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library Society (NMMLS) has been quashed by the Delhi High Court on grounds of non-adherence to proper procedures.

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While scrapping Rangarajan's appointment order, issued last month, Justice Rajiv Sahai Endlaw directed the Society to make a fresh appointment within three months.

The court, however, gave freedom to the executive council of the society to reconsider Rangarajan's appointment as per proper procedure if he is found suitable for the post.

"The procedure adopted by the Society in the matter of respondent Rangarajan's appointment is held to be in violation of the prescribed procedure and the law. Consequently, the appointment of the respondent to the post of Director of the Society is set aside," said the court.

"The Society is directed to as expeditiously as possible and latest within a period of three months from today make fresh appointment....," said the court while asking Rangarajan to continue his office till the fresh appointment for the post.

An autonomous institution under the union ministry of culture, NMMLS aims to preserve and reconstruct the history of the Indian independence movement with special reference to the Nehru era.

The court quashed Rangarajan's appointment on a petition by Shri Krishan, a Maharshi Dayanand University presently professor at Rohtak in Haryana, alleging that the Society, headed by veteran Congress leader Karan Singh has failed to follow the procedure laid down for the appointment.