After HC’s interim stay, BU appoints HOD in-charge

Coimbatore: Two weeks after the Madras high court stayed the appointment of an in-charge head of department (HOD) of chemistry, the Bharathiar University has appointed a new in-charge head.
The university on Friday appointed M Ramesh, dean, faculty of science and professor at the department of zoology, as the head in-charge of the chemistry department, instead of T Selvaraju, an associate professor in the university’s chemistry department.
Selvaraju had assumed the post of the head in-charge of the chemistry department on July 1 after the previous HOD retired on June 30. M Ilanchelian, another associate professor from the department, had contested the appointment saying he was overlooked for the post. He said Selvaraju, who was appointed directly as an associate professor, had not ‘satisfactorily completed’ his probation period and thus was ineligible for the post.
Ilanchelian said he had joined the university as an assistant professor in 2005 and had been promoted to associate professor in 2017. “My probation period was declared in 2007-2008. Presently, I am the eligible candidate for the post of the HOD in-charge.” Following this, he filed a suit in the HC on July 16. On July 19, the court issued an interim stay on the appointment of Selvaraju.
Now, two weeks after the HC’s interim stay, the university has appointed Ramesh. In a communication dated August 2, the university registrar said the move was taken in accordance with the direction of the court.
University officials said it was the norm that when there were no eligible senior faculty members in a particular department, a senior faculty member from another department would be made the in-charge HOD for the former department.
N Jeyakumar, a member of the university’s vice-chancellor committee, said they had chosen Ramesh as he was the dean of the faculty of sciences and also to avoid conflict.
However, Ilanchelian contested the decision and said the statutes of the university did not state that the HOD post could be given to a dean. “I had given a pre-contempt notice to the university officials on Friday and the move has come after that. I will contest this move also,” he said.