Challenge to appointment of NUALS Registrar before Kerala High Court withdrawn

A lawyer who moved a plea before the Kerala High Court challenging the appointment of Mahadev MG as Registrar of the National Law University (NUALS), Kochi, withdrew his plea on Friday. [Adv Sanjai D Rajan v. National University of Advanced Legal Studies & Ors].Counsel for the petitioner lawyer informed a Division Bench of Justices K Vinod Chandran and C Jayachandran that the petitioner would be withdrawing the plea that contended that the appointment of the current Registrar was made in violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations and mandates..When the matter was heard today, the Bench questioned the petitioner as to how such a plea can be moved before the High Court when the petitioner had not even filed a representation before the UGC, and that too for an appointment made in 2014.Thereafter, the petitioner decided to withdraw the plea and the Bench allowed the same..The petitioner, Advocate Sanjai D Rajan, claimed to be a practicing lawyer from Thiruvananthapuram with over 15 years experience at the Bar and enrolled with the Bar Council of Kerala. He further claimed to be a public spirited person who is on a crusade to improve the standards of legal education in India.Rajan's plea contended that the appointment of Mahadev as Registrar of the NUALS was done in violation of UGC Regulations and mandates.It was pointed out that the NUALS Regulations, 2006 state that the minimum qualification for direct recruitment to the post of Registrar is 3 years of administrative experience. However, as per a 1998 UGC Notificiation on minimum qualification for appointments of teachers in universities and colleges the minimum qualification is 15 years of administrative experience, out of with 8 years experience must be as Deputy Registrar.Therefore, the provision of the NUALS Regulations in this regard is contended to be per se illegal and unsustainable in law. As far as the appointment of Mahadev is concerned, it is argued that he does not meet the criteria set out by the UGC.Rajan thus moved the High Court seeking a writ of quo warranto to quash Mahadev's appointment as Registrar of NUALS..The matter was previously posted before a bench headed by Chief Justice S Manikumar. However, the Chief Justice recused from hearing the matter as he is the current Chancellor of NUALS. The plea was subsequently assigned to the Division Bench that heard the matter today.The petitioner was represented by Advocates MH Asif Asli, S Muhammed Haneed, Swethambily C and Ranjana Jose.