The Uttarakhand High Court has dismissed a petition challenging the appointment of Sandeep Kumar as Registrar of the Govind Ballabh Pant Institute of Engineering and Technology, terming the plea “baseless” and imposing a cost of ₹5 lakh on the petitioner.
A division bench of Chief Justice G. Narendra and Justice Subhash Upadhyay passed the order, directing the petitioner Ajay Kishore Bahuguna, a resident of Tehri, to deposit the amount with the State Legal Services Authority within six weeks.
Bahuguna had alleged that Kumar did not possess the requisite educational qualifications or the minimum five years of administrative experience mandated for the post of Registrar. He challenged the validity of Kumar’s appointment on these grounds.
The institute countered that the appointment had been duly approved by its Board of Governors and was made in strict compliance with the applicable rules. It further pointed out that Kumar was appointed in 2019, and the petitioner’s attempt to question the appointment six years later was unjustified and belated.
The bench found no merit in the allegations and dismissed the petition. It also noted that the delay in raising the challenge further weakened the petitioner’s case. Terming the petition an abuse of the court’s process, the court imposed the ₹5 lakh fine as a deterrent against frivolous litigation.
