Bombay HC strikes down Clause in UGC Regulation

The Bombay High Court recently struck down a clause in UGC regulations that converted permanent posts to term posts.

About the Case

In 2016, the UGC had amended its regulations to fix the term of college principals at 5 years. It provided that the term is extendable by another 5 years if the incumbent successfully clears the selection process and the external peer review. The Bombay HC had struck down this clause as ‘manifestly arbitrary’. The college principals can now hold their posts till retirement.

UGC

UGC or University Grants Commission is a statutory body set up under the UGC Act of 1956. It falls under the Union Ministry of Human Resource Development. It is modelled after the University Grants Committee of UK. It is headquartered in Delhi.

Mandate

• Promoting and coordinating university education.
• Determining and maintaining standards of teaching, examination and research in universities.
• Framing regulations on minimum education standards.
• Monitoring developments in the college and university-level education and disbursing grants to the universities and colleges.
• Act as the link between union and state governments and institutions of higher learning.
• Advising the governments on the measures for improvement of university education.