Urology HoD appointment: Allahabad HC issues contempt notice to BHU VC

PRAYAGRAJ The Allahabad high court has issued a contempt notice to Prof Sudhir Jain, vice chancellor, Banaras Hindu University (BHU), in a contempt petition filed by Dr Lalit Kumar of department of urology, IMS-BHU, directing Jain to either comply with its earlier order within two months or to show cause as to why contempt proceedings should not be initiated against him.
Justice Dinesh Pathak issued the notice. As per Dr Lalit Kumar, he was eligible for the post of head of urology department, faculty of medicine, IMS-BHU, but the university was not considering his candidature.
Therefore, he filed a petition before the high court and on January 30, 2024. Later, the court directed the university to consider his candidature as per law. According to Kumar, in spite of the court’s order, his candidature was not considered and some other person was appointed as the head of urology department. Thus, he filed the present contempt petition.
The court, after hearing the petitioner’s counsel observed, “Prima facie, a case of contempt is made out under the provisions as enunciated under Section 12 of the Contempt of Courts Act. Matter requires consideration.”
“Let notice be issued to the opposite party, either to comply with the order of this Court within two months from the date of receiving the notice and file compliance affidavit on or before the next date fixed or show cause as to why contempt proceeding should not be drawn against him,” the court observed while fixing May 13 as the next date of hearing in the case. The order dated March 18 came into limelight on March 28.