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Synopsis

The Delhi High Court last week issued notice to the central government on a plea filed by Professor Dr. Pratap Manohar Raval challenging the constitution of the selection committee tasked to appoint the new Director of the School of Planning and Architecture.  

The bench of Justice Tushar Rao Gedala issued notice to the Central government and sought a reply on the plea within 10 days.

“Issue notice. Notice accepted on behalf of respective respondents. Reply be filed within 10 days. Rejoinder thereto, if any, may be filed within three days, thereafter. List before the roster bench on 25.05.2023”, the court ordered.

“Needless to state that the selection would be subject to the outcome of the writ petition”, court clarified.

Raval through Advocates Namit Saxena and Shivam Raghuwanshi has challenged the constitution of the Selection Committee as constituted by the Union of India alleging that the committee should comprise of Chairperson, who is required to be an eminent person from the field of Architecture or Planning, and also two Experts from the field of Architecture or Planning.

Advocate Namit Saxena on behalf of the petitioner, submitted that the Committee which has been constituted violates Clause 17(1) of the Schools of Planning and Architecture Statute, 2016 as notified by the Ministry of Human Resources and Development vide the Gazette Notification dated October 13, 2016.

"As per Statute 17, the chairperson and members (of selection committee) has to be technical expert in the field of Planning or Architecture but shockingly, the chairperson and a member of the appointed selection committee doesn’t even fulfill the basic criteria. The chairperson, Prof Sudhir Jain, has done his bachelor, master, and Ph.D. degree in Civil Engineering and has no work experience in the field of planning or architecture. Similarly, Prof Praveen Kumar too is a civil engineer with expertise in transportation engineering," the plea stated. 

It further stated, “That the order dated 16.02.2023 issued by the respondent no.1, appointing the selection committee, is mala fide, illegal and is in clear violation of the Statutes of Schools of Planning and Architecture, 2016… any decision taken or recommendations made by such illegal and faulty Selection Committee will also be illegal, discriminatory and lead to miscarriage of justice.”

Furthermore, the plea stated that interviewing certain candidates and recommending names, without proper statutory mandate, is not only illegal but is also discriminatory to the petitioner and other aspirants.

Case Title: Prof. Dr. Pratap Manohar Raval v. Union of India & Anr.