The High Court of Karnataka has directed the University Grants Commission (UGC) and the Central Government to comply with the mandate of the UGC (Institutions Deemed to be Universities) Regulations, 2016, on the issue of legality of transferring the city-based Rajarajeswari Medical College and Hospital (RRMCH) to the Dr. MGR Educational and Research Institute, a Chennai-based deemed-to-be university.
A Division Bench comprising Justice Alok Aradhe and Justice Anant Ramanath Hegde issued the direction while upholding the November 3, 2020 judgment of a single judge, which had quashed the Union Government’s February 14, 2019 notification of including the RRMCH under the Chennai-based deemed university on the recommendations made by the UGC.
The order was passed while disposing of an appeal filed by Moogambigai Charitable and Educational Trust, which was managing RRMCH against the single judge order. The Division Bench said the UGC violated the regulations, which mandate consideration of the State Government’s views. The Karnataka Government in January 2019 wrote to the UGC opposing the opinion given by a panel allowing transfer of the RRMCH to the Chennai-based deemed university.
Meanwhile, the Division Bench said the judge, after quashing transfer notification, ought not to have dealt with the other issues, namely whether Moogambigai Trust and the MGR Trust are administered by separate managements, etc.
The Division Bench has given two months to the UGC and the Centre to decide on the issue of transfer after considering the objection submitted by the State Government.
