The Ministry of Human Resource and Development (HRD) has stated that it has no records relating to the appointment of former Congress leader Subhash Yadav to the University Grants Commission (UGC). The ministry said this in response to a Right to Information (RTI) query.
Subhash Yadav’s candidature was questioned in September last year, when the HRD ministry had removed psephologist Yogender Yadav as he had joined the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP). The ministry had said about Yadav that his joining the AAP, “may not only set a dangerous precedent, but may even give scope for future politicisation of the UGC and its academic decision making.”
It was argued that when Subhash Yadav, who was also a former deputy chief minister of Madhya Pradesh, was allowed to allowed to continue as a member of the UGC, then why should Yogender Yadav be asked to step down.
The ministry reply came in response to an RTI application filed by noted RTI activist Subhash Chandra Agrawal. The application had asked information on Yadav’s appointment. In its reply, the ministry has said the files were either ‘missing’ or ‘not traceable’ and that the ministry has begun the search for these lost files.
The ministry of HRD has begun the search for these lost file. The ministry’s hand has been further pushed by a judgment of the Delhi High Court, which in ‘Union of India versus Vishwas Bhamburkar’ had ruled that before any file is termed as not traceable, an enquiry should be conducted by an officer not below the rank of Joint Secretary. This search should be completed within a period of twenty days.
The petitioner said since more than 20 days have lost, without the ministry providing a reply on the status of the search, he has filed an appeal in the Central Information Commission.
