The Supreme Court on Monday suspended the Center for not providing requisite logistical assistance to the court-appointed committee in a matter pertaining to audit of private universities and issued a contempt notice to Union Education Minister Vineet Joshi, stating that such conduct was an “insult” to the Supreme Court.
“Everyone is trying to delay as the stakes in this matter are high,” observed a bench of Justices Ehsanuddin Amanullah and N V Angaria, who were displeased with the Centre’s failure to comply with a February order to provide decent office space, support staff and other logistics to help a committee headed by RM Sharma, a former Indian Legal Service officer, examine affidavits filed by states, union territories and central government departments in a matter in which the court had ordered a review of performance and regulation of standards in private universities.
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Sharma informed the court that an office space was provided to his team at Shastri Bhawan which is in a dilapidated condition and he also learned that the building is scheduled to be demolished and renovated within a month or two.
“In the principled view of the court, such conduct by the Education Minister in failing to ensure adequate facilities and infrastructure to the officers appointed by us is a direct insult to this court and amounts to contempt,” the bench said.
The matter has now been adjourned to April 27.
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The court order came on a petition filed by a student of Amity University who was being harassed for seeking to change her name in the college records. The court expanded the scope of the petition and issued pan-India directions by asking states and union territories to collect information about who runs these universities, what wages are paid to employees, and the composition and manner of selection of these bodies running the institutions.
