The Madras High Court on Thursday, November 7, ordered setting up of a three-member expert committee headed by retired judge Justice V Bharathidasan to monitor the recruitment of teaching faculties to government-run law colleges in the state.

Senior advocate and Rajya Sabha Member P Wilson and retired Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Mythili K Rajendran are the members of the committee which is entrusted with the task of monitoring the process for appointing assistant professor, assistant professor (pre-law) and associate professor in the law colleges.

The order was passed by Justice Battu Devanand on a 2018 petition filed by P Vasanthakumar on the appointment of teaching faculties, stated a report by The New Indian Express.

The judge said the committee will monitor the selection process, including strict implementation of the rule of reservation, issue instructions and guidelines to the Teachers Recruitment Board to finalise and issue a notification for the notification so that it will be free from litigations and decide the modalities of setting question papers, conducting written examinations and constitute interview boards as per the UGC guidelines.

Allowing the petition, the judge quashed a 2017 notification for recruitment and directed the authorities concerned to complete the fresh recruitment process as early as possible.

During the hearing of the petition, the judge had raised concern over the lack of adequate teaching faculties in government-run law colleges and even summoned the law secretary to appear before the court. Accordingly, the secretary appeared.

The judge expressed concern over 19 out of 20 sanctioned posts of associate professors and 70 out of 206 assistant professor posts lying vacant. He had also commented that it was better to close down the colleges if the government was not able to appoint faculties.