The Karnataka High Court on Friday, February 18 heard a petition seeking the removal of the present vice-chancellor of Karnataka State Law University Ishwara Bhat on the grounds that he is continuing in office despite surpassing the legal age. Advocate Vittal BR, who was representing petitioner Law Students Association, told the court that the V-C reached the age of 65 in 2020. This, when the Karnataka State Law University Act, 2009 (Karnataka Act No. 11 of 2009) fixes the upper age limit of the V-C to be 65.
The petition has sought recovery of salary paid to him after he turned 66. Section 14 (5) of the Act states that the Vice-Chancellor shall hold office for a term of four years or until he attains the age of sixty-five years, whichever is earlier. He shall not be eligible for reappointment.
Other than Ishwara Bhat, the Karnataka Principal Secretaries of Law and Higher Education and Chancellor of the Karnataka State Law University have been made respondents in the case. During the hearing on Friday, the petitioner stated that they relied on the information stated in the official website of the university, in which Ishwara Bhat was said to be born in 1955. He said his RTI queries filed on January 27 seeking details on any official procedure taken up by the university to regularise his extension is yet to be answered. The High Court will hear the matter again on March 2.
The petition also stated that the V-C has taken many important decisions and performed actions on behalf of the Karnataka State Law University in the capacity of Vice Chancellor, including spending or authorizing the spending of university funds. These decisions were made even as the V-C was fully aware that he had crossed the age of retirement.
Incidentally, Ishwara Bhat in 2018 had resigned from the National University of Judicial Sciences in Kolkata after protests around his current appointment.