On Thursday, October 9, the Andhra Pradesh High Court, presided over by Justice K Srinivas Reddy, directed the Andhra Pradesh Higher Education Regulatory and Monitoring Commission (APHERMC) to upload the court’s interim orders on its official website concerning the Mohan Babu University (MBU) case.

This instruction was issued while hearing a supplementary petition filed by MBU, with the main case hearing adjourned to October 14, reported The New Indian Express.

Background of the dispute

On September 17, APHERMC recommended that the State government revoke the recognition of Mohan Babu University, located in Rangampeta, Tirupati district.

The commission further advised the refund of Rs 26.17 crore allegedly over-collected from students and the transfer of MBU’s administrative responsibilities to the Vice-Chancellor/Registrar of Sri Venkateswara University.

In response, MBU’s Registrar filed a petition in the High Court to quash these recommendations. On September 26, the High Court issued interim orders staying APHERMC’s recommendations, including the cancellation of recognition, the refund, and the transfer of administrative duties.

MBU’s allegations

MBU alleged that APHERMC uploaded the proceedings recommending the cancellation of its recognition on its website, despite the court’s interim stay. The university argued that this action damaged its reputation, as the matter gained significant media attention. MBU’s senior counsel, O Manohar Reddy, stated that APHERMC ignored their request to remove the proceedings and urged the court to mandate the inclusion of the interim orders and details of the pending writ petition on the website.

APHERMC’s defence

Representing APHERMC, senior counsel P Veera Reddy clarified that the commission was complying with a prior High Court Division Bench directive to upload all proceedings on its website. He noted that the proceedings recommending MBU’s recognition cancellation were uploaded on September 18, before the interim orders were issued, and denied any malicious intent. “The commission is complying with a prior High Court Division Bench directive to upload all proceedings on its website,” Reddy stated.

Court’s ruling

The High Court questioned APHERMC’s counsel on the decision to upload the proceedings despite the stay order. Concluding the hearing, the court directed APHERMC to upload the interim orders on its official website to ensure transparency and adjourned the main case to October 14 for further proceedings.