Court quashes action against former campus director of maritime varsity

CHENNAI: Justice C Saravanan passed the order on disposing of a petition filed by Vijayan seeking a direction to set aside the impugned order of the university administration.

“There was no scope for either suspending the petitioner or imposing the minor penalty on the petitioner under the provisions of The Conduct of the Employees of the University Teaching and Non-Teaching Employees Rules. Suspension of the petitioner and imposition of a minor penalty is therefore unsustainable, ” the judge ruled.

The petitioner submitted that the respondent university had initiated the disciplinary action based on alleged charges of amassing wealth during his tenures as a vice-chancellor as well as a director of the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE).

“The university cannot initiate the action for the charges alleged during the petitioner’s previous jobs. Also, no action could be taken against the petitioner as per chapter VII of the conduct of the Employees of the University Teaching and Non-Teaching Employees (Terms and Conditions of Service) Rules,” the petitioner’s counsel submitted.

Concurring with this submission, the judge held that the petitioner could not be considered an employee of Indian Maritime University as he was appointed as a campus director on a three-year contract basis.

The IMU’s counsel pointed out that when the petitioner was appointed as the director he used the same perks and privileges entitled to the VC. “The CBI has also registered a case against the petitioner for reportedly amassing wealth beyond his known source of income,” the IMU noted.