*THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI + WRIT PETITION NO : 27352 of 2009 % 09/02/2010 # Dr.B.Sreekanth, Ananthapur District. ..... PETITIONER Vs. The State of A.P. Department of Higher Education, Rep., by its Secretary, Hyderabad and 2 others. …Respondents $ < Gist > Head Note: ! Counsel for the petitioner : MR. P.GOVIND REDDY ^ Counsel for the respondents: GP FOR HIGHER EDUCATION Cases referred : THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.27352 OF 2009 Dated: 09.02.2010 Between: Dr. B. Sreekanth ….Petitioner And 1. The State of A.P., Department of Higher Education, Rep. by its Secretary, Secretariat, Hyderabad, And 2 others. …. Respondents THE HON’BLE Ms. JUSTICE G. ROHINI WRIT PETITION No.27352 OF 2009 ORDER : This writ petition is filed seeking a declaration that the alleged inaction on the part of the respondents in reconstituting the Executive Council of the 2nd respondent University as arbitrary and illegal. I have heard the learned counsel for both the parties and perused the material available on record including the counter- affidavits filed on behalf of the 1st respondent and respondents 2 & 3. The 2nd respondent University was established under the Sri Krishnadevaraya University Act, 1981 and subsequently on the enactment of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991, Sri Krishnadevaraya University Act, 1981 stood repealed and as per Section 4 of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991, the said University is deemed to have been established and incorporated under the A.P. Universities Act, 1991. Section 17 of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991, specifies the authorities of the University which included the Board of Management. According to Section 19, the Board of Management shall be executive authority of the University. Section 18 of the A.P. Universities Act provides that the Executive Council shall consist of the Ex-Officio Members (Class-I) specified thereunder as well as the other Members (Class-II) nominated by the Government. Section 18 (2) further provides that every Member of the Executive Council, other than Ex-Officio Members, shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor. It is not in dispute that in exercise of powers conferred by Section 18 (1) of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991, the 1st respondent had nominated 9 persons as Members of the Executive Council vide G.O.Ms.No.108, Higher Education (UE.1) Department, dated 16.10.2004. It is also not in dispute that the said Members are still being continued and the Executive Council has not been reconstituted till today. It is the contention of the petitioner that the term of the office of the Members nominated under G.O.Ms.No.108, dated 16.10.2004, shall only be three (3) years as provided under Section 33 (1) of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991 and since the said term expired long back in the year 2007 the action of the respondents in not reconstituting the Executive Council is arbitrary and illegal. On the other hand, it is contended on behalf of the respondents that as the Members of the Executive Council shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor, as provided under Section 18 (2) of the A.P. Universities Act, the term of the nominated members cannot be restricted to three (3) years and therefore the respondents cannot be found fault with for not reconstituting the Executive Council. It is true that Section 18 (2) of the A.P. Universities Act provided that every Member of the Executive Council other than Ex-officio members shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor. However Section 33 (1) of the A.P. Universities Act made it clear that the Executive Council shall be reconstituted every 3 years and the proviso to Section 33 (1) of the A.P. Universities Act prohibits the nomination of the members to the Executive Council for more than two terms consecutively. Section 33 of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991 to the extent it is relevant runs as under : 33. Term of office of members of Board of Management and the Academic Senate, etc.,:- ( 1 ) Save as otherwise provided, the Board of Management, the Finance Committee and the Academic Senate shall be reconstituted at or about the same time every three years and the members of these authorities shall except in the case of ex-officio members hold office as members thereof upto the date of next reconstitution: Provided that no person other than ex-officio member, professor, Heads of Departments other than Professors, Deans/Chairman of Faculties and Principals shall be a member of Board of Management or the Academic Senate for more than two terms consecutively. (2) … .. ….. … … … (3) … .. ….. … … … It is also relevant to extract Section 18 (2) of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991, as under: 18 (2). Every member of the Executive Council other than ex-officio members shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor. On a combined reading of the above provisions, it is clear that the term of the nominated members of the Executive Council under no circumstances shall exceed 3 years. Section 18 (2) of the A.P. Universities Act which provides that the nominated members of the Executive Council shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor does not in any manner entitle the nominated members to continue beyond 3 years. On the other hand, Section 18 (2) of the A.P. Universities Act makes it clear that the nominated members do not hold any right to continue for a period of 3 years and that they can be discontinued by the Governor at any time i.e., even before the expiry of the 3 years term. For the aforesaid reasons, I find force in the contention of the petitioners that the failure of the respondents to reconstitute the Executive Council even after expiry of 3 years from G.O.Ms.No.108, dated 16.10.2004 is illegal being contrary to Section 33 (1) of the A.P. Universities Act, 1991. Accordingly, the Writ Petition is allowed with a direction to the respondents to reconstitute the Executive Council of the 2nd respondent University following due process of law as expeditiously as possible preferably within a period of (eight) 8 weeks from the date of receipt of this order. No costs. _____________ G. ROHINI, J. Dt. 09.02.2010 Note: 1.LR copy to be marked. 2. CC in 3 days. (B/O) gbs