Allahabad HC Dismisses Petition Challenging Selection Process of AMU VC

The Allahabad High Court has dismissed a writ petition challenging the selection process for the Aligarh Muslim University’s vice chancellor position.

During the hearing, the petitioner’s counsel requested the court’s permission to withdraw the writ petition, with the liberty to file a new writ. In response, Justice Vikas Budhwar dismissed the petition as withdrawn.

The petitioner, Syed Afzal Murtaza Rizvi, had approached the court, contending that a committee led by the university’s acting VC, Mohammad Gulrez, had shortlisted three candidates, including Gulrez’s wife.

During a meeting of AMU’s governing body on November 6, the final three candidates for the VC position were shortlisted, which included acting VC’s wife, Naima Khatoon. Khatoon, the principal of AMU’s Women’s College, received 50 votes from the AMU Court members.

The other two shortlisted candidates were M Uruj Rabbani (former dean of the Faculty of Medicine, AMU) and Faizan Mustafa (renowned jurist and former VC of the National Law University, Nalsar), securing 61 and 53 votes, respectively.

In a prior meeting of the university’s Executive Council chaired by Gulrez, five candidates were finalized for submission to the AMU Court. On November 6, the governing body narrowed down the list to three, excluding Furqan Qamar (former VC of the University of Rajasthan and the first VC of the Central University of Himachal Pradesh) and Qayyum Hussain (VC of Cluster University, Srinagar).