High Court summons HP University VC, Registrar

SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh High Court has directed HP University Vice Chancellor Sikander Kumar and Registrar Suneel Sharma to appear before the court on August 9 in a petition relating to lack of infrastructure in the Jawaharlal Nehru College of Fine Arts here.

A division bench of Acting Chief Justice Ravi Malimath and Justice Jyotsna Rewal Dua passed the orders on a petition taken up suo moto as public interest litigation on a letter by college students.

It says the state government started the college in May 2015 in five rooms of Government Degree College in Chaura Maidan and about 143 students are currently enrolled. However, the college does not have experienced teachers and proper infrastructure, including labs and workshops.

They had complained about the non-compatibility of the syllabus with that of other universities and non-declaration of the results. They said a piece of land has been allotted to the college near Shimla but "it seems the college authority is not interested to shift to the proposed area".

The court in its earlier orders observed the maintenance of standard of education "is a solemn responsibility of the university, but as far as this college is concerned, the university has miserably failed to do so".

"Therefore, it becomes necessary in the interest of the students that the quality of education that is being imparted be considered by the court."

During the hearing, the standing counsel appearing for the university said in spite of making repeated requests, no proper instructions are being given by the university on the issue.

In view of this, the court asked the Vice Chancellor and the Registrar to appear personally before it.