HC declares aided institutions Act unconstitutional

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Bengaluru, July 11, 2015 (DHNS): The High Court on Friday held that the Karnataka Private Aided Educational Institutions Employees (Regulation of Pay, Pension and other Benefits) Act, 2014 as unconstitutional.

Hearing a batch of petitions (240) by Munirajkumar and others, all teachers in private educational institutions, Justice Aravind Kumar has held that the government cannot upset the judgment of the courts.

The petitioners had challenged the Act stating that it was introduced in order to nullify the orders of the High Court and the Supreme Court. The High Court and the apex court, way back, held that the period in which an institute undergoes a transition from unaided to aided shall be considered for pension. Stating that the State government has no power to enact such an act, the petitioners had sought to quash it.

Several petitions
The High Court had allowed several petitions based on the Supreme Court judgement, which stated that the ‘unaided’ period of an educational institution should be taken into account while calculating the service for pension.  However, the government brought in the legislation and the petitioners moved the High Court challenging it.

Appointment quashed
The High Court on Friday quashed the appointment of agriculture scientist Dr Y B Patil as a syndicate member of Karnataka Veterinary Animal and Fisheries Science University  (KVAFSU).

Hearing a petition by Patil, challenging the withdrawal of his appointment as syndicate member, Justice Ashok B Hinchigeri vacated the stay granted to the Governor’s notification withdrawing his nomination.

The petitioner was nominated as syndicate member to KVAFSU and the same was withdrawn by the Governor following a complaint by some of the members stating that he is not a veterinary scientist. The Governor’s notification was a result of the report by Principal Secretary Rajneesh Goel. Following complaints, the Governor had ordered an inquiry into this.

Patil, who obtained a stay against the Governor’s order in February, in his petition, had contended that he had obtained his degree as an agriculture scientist, when the agriculture science and the veterinary science were not segregated.