DEEPTHI BHAVA Vs. STATE OF KARNATAKA

JUDGEMENT

(1.) Heard Sri.Udaya Holla, learned Senior counsel along with Sri. Shashidhara H. N., learned counsel for the petitioners in the lead petition - W.P.No.13414/2020, Sri. P. S. Rajagopal, learned Senior counsel along with Smt. Ashwini Rajagopal, learned counsel for the petitioners in the companion petition - W.P.No.12650/2020, Sri. Jayanth Dev Kumar, learned counsel for the petitioner in W.P.No.12652/2020, Sri. D.N. Nanjunda Reddy, learned Senior Counsel along with Sri. N. K. Ramesh, learned counsel for the respondent - University and Smt.Prathima Honnapura, learned Additional Government Advocate for the respondent - State. The Pleadings have been completed.

(2.) The petitioners in W.P.No.13414/2020 and W.P.No.12652/2020 are the members of the Syndicate body of the University constituted under Section 24 of the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Act, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as the 'Act-1994' for short) and the petitioners in W.P.No.12650/2020 are the members of the Senate body constituted under Section 21 of the Act-1994. The petitioners in W.P.No.13414/2020 and W.P.No.12652/2020 came to be removed from the membership of the Syndicate, by a common order produced as Annexure-A in the lead petition and under the very said order, private respondent Nos.3 to 7 came to be appointed in the place of the petitioners. Aggrieved, the petitioners are before this Court. Similarly, petitioners in W.P.No.12650/2020, who are the members of the Senate, came to be removed by a common order dated 23.10.2020 produced as Annexure-E to the writ petition and simultaneously, private respondents came to be appointed in the place of the petitioners under the said order. The only discernable difference in the two sets of writ petitions i.e., in respect of Syndicate and Senate members is, the appointment of the senate members (W.P.No.12650/2020) also came to be notified by the University under the Notification No.RGUHS/AUTH/Senate/Reconstitution/23/2018-19 dated 23.10.2018, which is produced as Annexure-C (W.P.No.12650/2020). Insofar as it relates to the Syndicate members, no such Notification came to be issued.

(3.) The petitioners are hereinafter referred to as syndicate and senate members for the purpose of brevity and convenience.