Madras HC upholds appointment of Bhaskar Ramamurthi as IIT-M director

CHENNAI: The appointment of Bhaskar Ramamurthi as director of Indian Institute of Technology- Madras has been upheld by the Madras high court, which, however, said there could be more transparency in the manner of shortlisting of eligible candidates for the post.
Justice M Sathyanarayanan on Thursday dismissed a writ petition filed by a former IIT-Madras alumni and activist E Muralidharan and said: “In the considered opinion of this court, the selection and appointment of Dr Bhaskar Ramamuthi to the post of the director of IIT-Madras has been done in accordance with the provisions of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961 and statutes.”
As for the transparency in selection procedure, the judge said: “This court is of the considered view that insofar as shortlisting candidates is concerned, more transparency should be in place.”
Pointing out that originally 64 applications were received for IIT-M director post, he said five were shortlisted and the decision to select the one person ultimately “appears to be subjective’.
“In all fairness, the Union ministry of human resources development should have put the candidates on notice as to how the shortlisting has been done. Therefore, in future, the ministry shall make every endeavour to put the applicants/candidates on notice in advance as to the procedure and manner in which the shortlisting is being done, as it would definitely avoid favouritism and ensure transparency in selection and appointment,” the judge said.
In his petition, Muralidharan said the then Union HRD minister, in his capacity as chairman of IIT council, had taken a unilateral decision and appointed Bhaskar Ramamurthi without the knowledge and approval of the council, and that it was in clear contravention of Section 17(1) of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. Council means the full council and not chairman of the council alone, he said, adding that such a decision was unsustainable in law.
Since the approval of IIT director appointment is equivalent of the post of additional secretary in government of India as per the Transaction of Business Rules, it requires mandatory approval from Appointment Committee of Cabinet (ACC). Since the procedure was not followed, IIT-M director appointment was vitiated, he said.
Vijay Narayanan, senior counsel for Bhaskar Ramamurthy, said the appointment had been made on merits and his appointment was strictly in conformity with the statutes and in terms of Section 17(1) of the Institutes of Technology Act, 1961. The appointment also had prior approval of the President.
Concurring with his submissions, Justice Sathyanarayanan said: “In the light of procedure laid down, the candidature Bhaskar Ramamurthy for the post of director of IIT-Madras was considered along with those of four others and after deliberation, he was found meritorious to be selected and appointed as the director on contract basis. The procedure cannot be faulted in the light of the statutory provisions.”