Vadodara: Professor Vijay Kumar Shrivastava, Vice Chancellor of Maharaja Sayajirao University, has resigned following allegations that his appointment violated eligibility criteria.

Shrivastava’s lawyer, Mrugen Purohit, informed the Gujarat High Court on Wednesday that his client had submitted his resignation to the Additional Chief Secretary on Tuesday evening, ahead of a scheduled hearing on a writ petition challenging his appointment. Notably, the resignation comes just one month before the end of Shrivastava’s term on February 8.

Gujarat Advocate General Kamal Trivedi stated that the state government had decided to accept Shrivastava’s resignation and would assign temporary charge of the post to another official.

The petition, filed by Senior Professor Satish Pathak of the Department of Education, argued that Shrivastava’s appointment in February 2022 violated University Grants Commission (UGC) eligibility criteria, which require a minimum of 10 years of experience as a professor. Shrivastava reportedly had only three years and three months of such experience. Pathak welcomed the resignation, emphasizing the need to appoint a qualified and dedicated leader for the university.

Shrivastava’s resignation follows a complex legal issue surrounding his appointment. The appointment had been made according to the MS University Act, which did not require the 10 years of experience mandated by the UGC regulations. However, in March 2022, the Supreme Court of India clarified that UGC regulations would take precedence over State University rules for Vice Chancellor appointments. Consequently, the court decided to proceed with the petition to determine whether the ruling would apply retrospectively, given that Shrivastava was appointed on February 10, 2022, prior to the Supreme Court’s decision.

Shrivastava’s tenure, which was marked by controversies and campus protests, concluded amidst these legal challenges. The state government had earlier informed the court that a search committee was evaluating 80 applications for the Vice-Chancellor position and that a new appointment would be made by February 8. DeshGujarat