The Punjab and Haryana high court on Friday issued to Punjab Technical University (PTU) a notice regarding stay of an advertisement for the appointment of coordinators and facilitators (C&Fs) as a substitute to its regional centres across the country under its distance education programme (DEP).
The petition filed by the All India PTU DEP Association and its seven regional centres, challenging the advertisement issued in the first week of January, came up for hearing in the court of justice Rameshwar Singh Malik on Friday.
Hindustan Times had highlighted in a news report, 'Despite HC ban, PTU goes ahead with appointments' (January 13), how PTU had blatantly violated the high court's stay orders dated November 14, 2011, on carrying out any appointment process without the court's permission.
The petitioners had approached the high court challenging PTU's decision in appointing C&Fs in place of the petitioners in a wholly illegal manner. As per the advertisement, the last date for submitting of applications for C&Fs was January 28. The petitioners have also challenged the appointment of C&Fs already appointed on January 4, allegedly without issuing any advertisement and following proper procedure.
It has also been alleged that Dr Rajneesh Arora, PTU vice-chancellor, unilaterally deviated from the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) executed between the petitioners and the university and no power has been conferred upon him by PTU Act, 1996, or by the board of governors to annul the existing MoUs.
{{/usCountry}}It has also been alleged that Dr Rajneesh Arora, PTU vice-chancellor, unilaterally deviated from the memoranda of understanding (MoUs) executed between the petitioners and the university and no power has been conferred upon him by PTU Act, 1996, or by the board of governors to annul the existing MoUs.
{{/usCountry}}The petitioners also alleged that the vice-chancellor had last year appointed his old friend and batch-mate Parveen Kumar of Delhi and others as consultant with the aim of siphoning off university funds in the name of payments to these private consultants.
The court was informed that MoUs were executed between the petitioner regional centres and the university in March 2012 for a period of five years. The petitioners have also sought quashing of the resolution for introducing C&Fs, which got the approval of the board of governors on July 27, 2012.
The case would now come up for hearing on February 19.