TIA correspondent
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ALIGARH: The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) has put off its controversial University Court meeting to be held on December 19. The decision came following the President of India Mrs Pratibha Patil direction to the University to keep the Court meeting in abeyance”.
Mrs Patil is the Visitor of the AMU and she issued the direction following report of irregularities and other reasons
The Visitor has issued a show cause notice under Section 13(6) of the Aligarh Muslim University At, 1920 regarding holding of the meeting of the University Court on December 19, 2010.
It has been brought to the notice of the Visitor by members of the Court of Aligarh Muslim University and the stakeholders that the meeting of the Court is scheduled to be held on December 19, 2010 with important agenda to elect Chancellor, Pro-chancellor, Treasurer and six representatives to the Executive Council of the University, without fulfilling the statutory requirement of the minimum notice period of 35 days.
The Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India has said that the University shall bring this notice to the attention of all the members of the Court at once so as to avoid any inconvenience to them. The University has been directed to reply to the above show cause notice within a period of 15 days for consideration of the Visitor.
The presidential directive came four days after seven MPs met the President and submitted a memorandum to her seeking postponement of the meeting.
The MPs who met the President included Rashid Alvi, Sharfuddin Shariq, Dharmendra Yadav, Ali Anwar Ansari, Arvind Sharma, Ashaq Ali Tak, V. Hanumant Rao and Wasim Ahmad, former M.P and a member of AMU Court.
The memorandum submitted by them with the signature of 137 MPS of different political parties, had also alleged the date of December 19 had been "deliberately chosen by the AMU Vice Chancellor" to manipulate the elections of the AMU Court taking advantage of the absence of large number of MPs on that day.
Many of these MPs would be busy with the plenary session of AICC being held in Delhi between December 18 and 20.
Earlier teacher’s body of AMU , the AMU Teachers’ Association (AMUTA) described as patently illegal, the meeting of the varsity court saying the meeting would be illegal because it is taking place without the requisite thirty-five day notice and without the release of the agenda papers on time.
"AMU teachers would use all peaceful forms of protest to oppose the holding of this meeting," AMUTA President Professor Mukhtar Ahmad said.
The meeting was to take place despite the fact that there are no student representatives and there are a total number of forty vacancies in the Court which are liable to be filled up barely four weeks later on the directive of the Allahabad High Court