SHILLONG: The Supreme Court on Thursday, February 13, upheld the decision taken by the Meghalaya Government in 2014 to dissolve the Chander Mohan Jha (CMJ) University, a private university.
The Court also held that the University's decision to self-appoint a Chancellor, without the approval of the Visitor (Governor), was illegal. The state government ordered the dissolution of the university by invoking powers under Section 48 of the CMJ University Act for "mismanagement, maladministration, indiscipline, fraudulent intent, and failure in the accomplishment of the objectives of the university."
The Bench of Justices P.S. Narasimha and Sandeep Mehta noted that CMJ University was established under the CMJ University Act, 2009, enacted by the Meghalaya Legislative Assembly. Pertinently, as per the Act, the sponsor was required to appoint a person suitable to be the chancellor of the university 'subject to the approval of the visitor.'
It is an admitted position that the appointment of Chancellor of this university was never approved by the Visitor, i.e., the Governor of Meghalaya., the court said. It was observed that the approval of the visitor was mandatory, in the absence of which the appointment shall become invalid.
The court also pointed out that the expression 'subject to' means 'conditional upon' in law. Therefore, it can safely be inferred that the appointment of the Chancellor was conditional upon the approval of the Visitor, the Court added.
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