The Madras High Court on Friday ordered notice to the Centre on a petition challenging the appointment of the present Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) Director on the contention that it was not recommended by the entire IIT Council but its chairman alone.
When the plea came up for hearing, Justice D Hariparanthaman ordered issue of notice to Union Human Resources Development Secretary to file his reply within three weeks. Petitioner E Muralidharan, an international scientist and consultant biomedical engineer, challenged the appointment of Bhaskar Ramamurthi as the director of IIT-M by then HRD minister Kapil Sibal contending that it violated Section 17(1) of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Act.
He claimed the minister in his capacity as the chairman of the IIT Council had taken a "unilateral decision" and appointed Ramamurthi without the knowledge and approval of the entire council, which has 32 members, including three Members of Parliament other than the Union Education Minister. He further contended that it was not only a violation of Institute of Technology Act, but also violated the established rules and Articles 14 and 16 of the Constitution.
He also alleged that the appointment was not sent to the Appointment Committee of the Cabinet, where the Prime Minister is the Chairman and the approval of ACC, which was mandatory for all the chief executives of the autonomous institutions. He sought to know under what authority Ramamurthi was holding the post of Director of IIT-M and further prayed for an order of interim injunction, restraining his continuance.
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