The moment has arrived to enact Transparency in Appointments of Staff in Private Aided Educational Institutions Act, says HC
Allowing a petition that complained about appointments being made unilaterally to the post of correspondents and teachers in aided educational institutions run by CSI Diocese of Tirunelveli, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has held the entire process of appointment as unconstitutional and patently discriminatory.
Justice G. R. Swaminathan observed that to say that only a candidate of a particular religious denomination is entitled to apply for a post runs counter to the constitutional morality. When the salary is paid out of the State exchequer, the elementary principles of secularism demand that the process of appointment is thrown open to all eligible candidates.
The court was hearing a petition filed by C. Manohar Thangaraj who was elected as the treasurer of Tirunelveli Diocese. He alleged that appointments were being made for the post of correspondents and teachers unilaterally. He sought a direction to forbear the Bishop from taking any decision on his own regarding the appointments to the educational institutions run by the Diocese.
The court observed that at present, there is a sort of vacuum in the administration and management of the Diocese. The tenure of the democratically elected bodies has come to an end. The administrators appointed by the High Court are also not in a position to assume the day to day functions and responsibilities.
In any event a caretaker management cannot take policy decisions and only a regularly and duly constituted body can conduct the recruitment process and fill up vacancies. Till then, only ad hoc measures can be taken. The current situation in the Diocese is only a stopgap arrangement, the court observed and held that while the Bishop can take interim measures to meet the exigencies of the situation, he cannot make regular appointments.
The court observed that one can take judicial notice of the fact that it is a publicly held belief that appointments in aided private educational institutions are governed by commercial considerations. There are a few exceptions. The moment has arrived to enact the ‘Transparency in Appointments of Staff in Private Aided Educational Institutions Act’, the court observed.
If the diocesan policy is to appoint teachers from out of their diocesan list based on seniority, it would certainly not be conducive for a good administration. No doubt, the management of the minority institution shall make the appointment. But it should properly notify vacancies so that eligible candidates irrespective of their caste, religious and denominational background can apply. The element of transparency must be injected, the court observed.
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