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Aligarh:
Moinul Hassan, Member of Parliament and Member, AMU Court, in a
press statement, has called upon the Ministry of Human Resource
Development to withdraw its order issued on August 10, 2011
prohibiting any meeting of the AMU Court without the Ministry’s
permission.
Twenty-five members of the AMU Court, including Hasan, have issued
the statement for the press urging MHRD to withdraw the orders
forthwith and refrain from imposing any bans or restrictions
whatsoever on the AMU Court.
The statement said that by an order issued by the MHRD in the name
of the President of India, as Visitor of the Aligarh Muslim
University, the University has been barred from holding any
meeting of the AMU Court, despite a requirement under Section 34
of the AMU Act and Statute 15(1) that the Court shall meet
annually.
The Visitor's powers are clearly
mentioned in Section 13 of the AMU Act, which do not extend to
imposing any departure from the Act, Statutes and Ordinances of
the University. Any orders that have 'such effect are, therefore,
not only illegal, but an infringement on Parliament’s legislative
powers. The orders are also undemocratic and constitute an attempt
to subvert the functioning of the AMU Court.
The statement further elaborated that the Act confers no powers on
the Visitor to obstruct the operation of the Act and Statutes, as
the Ministry's orders have done by banning the meeting of the AMU
Court, which by Section 23 (2) of the Act is "the supreme
governing body" of the University. The University Act is
categorical in stating that the Court has to hold "an annual
meeting" to consider the annual report by Section 34 of the Act,
as well as the "annual accounts" of the University" vide Section
35(2). The Statute 15(1) prescribes that "the annual meeting of
the Court shall be held in the month of October every year on a
date to be fixed by the Executive Council, unless some other date
has been fixed by the Court itself."
The Visitor's orders, as conveyed by
the Ministry, are thus in total violation of the provisions of the
Act and Statutes, which have made holding of Court meeting an
annual mandatory obligation.
The Visitor's orders, issued on the advice of the Ministry, are
obviously designed to prevent the Court from having its proper
representation on the Executive Council, to which it elects six
members directly, and a seventh through the Hony. Treasurer
elected by it under Statute 16. The Visitor's ban on the meeting
of the Court is obviously designed to keep these elections of its
representatives in abeyance, so as to thwart the functioning of
the Executive Council, which thereby lacks the quorum for its
meetings. Such a measure is not only illegal but also unethical
and an unwarranted attack on the autonomy of the University.
It demanded that the MHRD should immediately retrace its illegal
steps and call upon the President, as Visitor of the University,
to ensure that the provisions of the Act, Statutes and Ordinances
are not trifled in her name and so to order that the ban on the
meeting of the Court be immediately rescinded.
The prominent signatories to the statement included Saidul Haque,
Member Parliament and Member, AMU Court, Professor Najam Khalique,
Dr. Suhail Sabir, Prof. M. Mursaleen, Prof. Zakia Athar Siddiqui,
Dr. M. Athar Siddiqui, Dr. Shadab Khurshid, Prof. Ekram Husain,
Prof. Shabahat Husain, Ms. Ashya Begum and others.
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