The appointment of Manik Bhattacharya as principal of Jogesh Chandra Chaudhuri Law College in 1998 was illegal, the UGC has said in an affidavit submitted in Calcutta High Court on Monday.
Bhattacharya was appointed when the Left Front was in power in the state.
Bhattacharya, a Trinamul MLA and former president of the state primary education board, has been in custody since his arrest by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with alleged irregularities in teacher recruitment in government-aided schools.
He was the principal of the law college in south Calcutta from 1998 to 2014.
“The appointment of Bhattacharya in the post of principal of the college was not valid and contrary to UGC rules,” the affidavit said.
The affidavit was filed following an order from Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, who was hearing a petition moved by Danesh Farooqui, a former student of the college.
The petitioner had submitted that the appointments of Sunanda Goenka, current principal of the college, and Achina Kundu, a lecturer, were illegal as they violated UGC rules.
Justice Gangopadhyay had on October 4 ordered the removal of Goenka and Kundu. A division bench set aside the order on October 11. But it sent the original case — questioning the legality of the appointment of Goenka and Kundu — back to Justice Gangopadhyay’s bench for disposal.
Counsel for the petitioner had told Justice Gangopadhyay that Bhattacharya was instrumental in appointing Goenka, who succeeded Bhattacharya as principal in 2015, and Kundu.
Justice Gangopadhyay, while ordering the removal of Goenka and Kundu from their posts, had asked the UGC to file an affidavit on the validity of Bhattacharya’s appointment.
In the affidavit, the UGC cited the rules for appointment of college teachers and principals.
They are: the candidate must have at least 55 per cent marks in master’s or equivalent exams; the candidate must clear an eligibility test for appointment as lecturer, conducted by the UGC, CSIR or any other test approved by the UGC; the candidate must have a PhD degree; the candidate must have at least 10 years’ experience as a college teacher.
While the first three are for hiring teachers, the fourth applies to the appointment of principals.
The UGC affidavit says none of the rules was followed by the then (Left Front) government while appointing Bhattacharya as principal.