CHENNAI: Expressing concern over the increasing number of pending court cases related to the Higher Education Department (HED), the Tamil Nadu government has decided to file an appeal in the court within a month of getting the verdict from the concerned court.
The authorities have also instructed the department to enforce court orders with immediate effect as the delay in implementing several judgments has led to the court’s condemnation. Over 600 cases were filed in court in a span of few years, said a senior official from the HED seeking anonymity. About 50 cases of them are related to Bharathiar University alone, he added.
He said not much action was taken despite the department issuing several circulars to expedite the court procedure, and added, “therefore, it was decided that priority would be given to file appeal within one month”.
The official said there is a legal cell in the HED and in all state-run universities, which looks into the court cases through legal case monitoring system till the disposal and added, “the cell has been instructed that the filing of appeal should not be delayed more than 60 days without valid reason.”
The senior official said that most of the cases related to the School Education Department are concerning promotion and transfer and the HED is pension and anomalies in the appointments of the professors.
Meanwhile, a former syndicate member from a state-university said that more transparency is required in the appointment of the professors. “There is no proper coordination between the authorities of the HED and the concerned officials in the recruitment region”, he alleged.
P Thirunavukkarasu, President, Association of University Teachers, said the only solution to reduce the court cases will be tripod discussions between the authorities in the Higher Education Department, petitioners and the institution. “It was there a decade back. The reason for pending cases is people’s unwillingness to discuss their issues openly,”he added.