HC notice to Punjabi University over appointment procedure

The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a notice of motion to Punjabi University on a petition filed by Meenakshi Malhotra, a scientist with the university and an applicant for the post of assistant professor in the zoology department.

The Punjab and Haryana high court has issued a notice of motion to Punjabi University on a petition filed by Meenakshi Malhotra, a scientist with the university and an applicant for the post of assistant professor in the zoology department.

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The department is set to conduct the interviews on August 13 for selection of two assistant professors, which, according to Malhotra, is against the procedure laid by the university calendar.

Malhotra had moved the court challenging the selection process/procedure adopted by the university.

She claimed that the department administrative committee had said that they needed the faculty to run the MSc in environmental sciences programme. However, instead of inviting applications for environmental sciences experts, the department had started recruitment for the zoology faculty. Already, there were 11 faculty members in the zoology department, she claimed.

Besides, she claimed that the university had advertised the posts on October 22, 2011, whereas the minutes of the department meeting, in which the decision to create new posts was taken, were signed on October 25, 2011.

Acting on the plea, the high court has issued a notice of motion and asked the university to file its reply by August 22.