HC directs govt to fill up posts of lecturers in law colleges

Madurai, Feb 10: A division Bench of the Madras High Court today directed the Tamil Nadu Government to complete the process of selection for the post of lecturers to law colleges in the state within three months.

Justice N Paul Vasanthakumar and Justice R Subbiah, gave the ruling while dismissing a writ appeal filed by a batch of guest lecturers seeking to declare as invalid the minimum eligibility criteria fixed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) for appointment of law college teachers as per UGC 2000 regulations.

Referring to an earlier petition by the guest lecturers last year that had been dismissed, the court said it had already stated that passing of National Eligibility Test (NET) or State Level Eligibility Test (SLET) as a criterion for selection of lecturers had been fixed in tune with national policy to upgrade the standards of education in the country and also in public interest.

In case sufficient number of candidates were not available for selection to the post of lecturers in colleges, the UGC itself had provided for the grant of relaxation for genuine reasons if a request was made by the university concerned, they said.

The court said the Supreme Court had already said 20 hours of teaching per week must be strictly enforced in law colleges. To comply with this ruling, more number of qualified lecturers were required and all the sanctioned posts must be filled, they said.

The court instructed officials including the Director of Legal Studies and Registrar, Dr Ambedkar Law University that the Government should fill the vacancies with NET or SLET-qualified lecturers.

If sufficient number of candidates were not available then the officials could approach the UGC for grant of relaxation for a limited period so that all the posts could be filled up, they ruled.

PTI