After facing judicial scrutiny and internal backlash, Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University (HNGU) in Patan has agreed to reverse its controversial decision of appointing a Chemistry professor as the in-charge Head of the English Department.
The development came on Friday during the hearing of a petition before Justice Nirzar Desai of the Gujarat High Court. The university submitted that it had “reconsidered the entire controversy” and was now “ready and willing” to appoint a person from the same academic discipline—English—as the in-charge head.
The issue arose in July 2025 after HNGU appointed Dr. Kokilaben Parmar, a Chemistry professor, as interim HoD of the English Department following the retirement of Prof. Adesh Pal. The appointment drew criticism and triggered legal action from faculty members, most notably Hetal Patel, an English professor who challenged the decision before the Education Tribunal.
Patel argued that the post should be held by a qualified English academic, and the Tribunal agreed. In an interim order dated October 10, 2025, the Tribunal stayed Parmar’s appointment and restrained her from functioning in the English department.
Dr. Parmar challenged the Tribunal’s interim relief in the Gujarat High Court, arguing that she had not been heard as an affected party. On October 16, the High Court stayed the Tribunal’s order and reinstated the university’s original appointment of Parmar, pending further proceedings.
However, on Friday, the university backtracked and informed the High Court that it would now appoint an in-charge HoD strictly from the same “branch and subject.” Justice Desai, while taking this statement on record, vacated the earlier interim stay and allowed the university to proceed with the fresh appointment.
Justice Desai noted that with both the university and individual petitioners choosing to withdraw their respective petitions, the cause of action in the original proceedings before the Education Tribunal no longer survives.
However, the High Court clarified that if Prof. Hetal Patel or any other party is aggrieved by the fresh appointment that may be made by the university, they retain the right to challenge it before the appropriate forum in accordance with law.
The row over placing a non-English academic in charge of the English department had raised serious questions over academic propriety and administrative decision-making. The university’s defence that the appointment was “administrative” in nature did not sit well with legal and academic observers, particularly when English department members themselves were overlooked.
By agreeing to course-correct, the university has now sought to bring the controversy to a close, but the case has already prompted debate about transparency, discipline-specific roles, and fairness in academic governance across public institutions.
