Srinagar: The High Court of J&K and Ladakh has directed the University of Kashmir to allow contractual as well as faculty members engaged on academic arrangement to continue till such time when core faculty is put in place in the Department of Law.
A bench comprising of Justice Sanjay Dhar said while allowing a bunch of petitions filed by those engaged on academic arrangement basis and whose engagement was extended from time to time either by virtue of interim orders passed by the Court or otherwise said, “ so far as the legal position as regards the permissibility of replacing the teaching faculty of an educational institution engaged on contractual basis or academic arrangement basis by a similar arrangement is concerned, the same, ….., is beyond any cavil, inasmuch it is not permissible for an institute to resort to hire and fire policy and to replace contractual/temporary arrangement by a similar arrangement”.
“The replacement can only be resorted through regularly appointed staff/teaching faculty,” the court said.
The petitioners had challenged various advertisement notices whereby the University invited applications for engagement of contractual Lecturers on academic arrangement basis for the Session 2023 and 2024.
“The action of the respondents (KU authorities) in disengaging the services of the petitioners and replacing them by ad hoc arrangements like visiting lecturers and guest lecturers is nothing but a malafide exercise of power,” the court said, adding, “By doing so, the respondent University intends to do away with the service contracts of the petitioners but in the process, they are also doing a great disservice to the students’ community who are being left to the mercy of guest/visiting lecturers without there being any continuity.”
Instead of creating a core faculty, as envisaged under Rule 17 of the Rules of Legal Education 2008, the court said, the University, it seems, is resorting to hire and fire policy which is detrimental to the interests of not only the petitioners but also to the larger interests of the student community.
It said continuation of the contractual engagement of the petitioners who have by now gained sufficient experience, till such time a core faculty is created and put in place, would be in the interests of the student community.
It held that it would also be in tune with the legal position that one ad hoc/temporary arrangement cannot be replaced by another arrangement of a similar nature.
The court opined that dispensing with the engagement of the petitioners and replacing them with visiting/guest lecturers would amount to perpetuating ad hocism and indirectly doing an act which is impermissible in law.
The court directed the University to allow the petitioners to continue as contractual Lecturers in the Department of Law till such time the respondents create and put in place a core faculty for imparting education to the students in the Department of Law. “However, the respondent University at the liberty to dispense with the engagement of the petitioners on the grounds of non-performance or on disciplinary grounds,” it said.
