Reddy challenges sacking in HC

K Prathap Reddy, director of Institute of Rural Management-Anand (Irma), filed a petition with the Gujarat High Court on Friday morning challenging his termination order.

He was sacked by Varghese Kurien, the long-standing chairman of Irma, late on Thursday.

Reddy pleaded that Kurien had served him the termination notice without consulting the board of governors of the institute, and that this was against the Irma constitution.

However, the Kurien lobby said that Reddy was terminated following a circular resolution passed recently, which, however, was not signed by the majority of members of the society of Irma.

"Even when the board of governors was probing charges levelled against Reddy, the chairman should not have moved a circular resolution through the society, which is a lower-level body," said one of the members of the Irma board, requesting anonymity.

"In fact, the chairman used an easy route to oust Reddy, sensing that the board of governors might not pass a resolution to throw out Reddy," he said.

Meanwhile, the high court has asked Reddy to appear before it on April 13 for second round of hearing.

He has also been asked to stay away from director's office till then.

L K Vaswani, one of the faculty members of Irma, would hold the charge of the director till the high court gives a verdict on Reddy's petition.

Meanwhile, the high court has decided to hear the petition filed by Reddy earlier for quashing the order of civil court in Anand on April 11.

Counsels for both the sides argued on the basis of the rulings given by the joint charity commissioner (Vadodara Division) and the Anand civil court.

However, with consideration of joint charity commissioner's ruling that had upheld assistant charity commissioner, Anand's opinion against the life-time chairmanship of Kurien, high court judge opined that Anand civil court is not the remedy especially after the ruling of the joint charity commissioner, Vadodara division.