Supreme Court Judge Justice K.K. Vinod Chandran on Monday (August 18, 2025) separated himself from hearing a petition challenging the appointment of Professor Naima Khatoon as the Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). The apex court was told that Khatoon became VC by getting important votes of her husband, who was the Vice Chancellor (VC) of AMU at that time. The petitioner called the husband voting in favor of his wife as a conflict of interest.
Chief Justice BR Gawai and Justice Chandran and Justice N.V. Anjaria’s bench is hearing an appeal filed against the order of Allahabad High Court on behalf of Muzaffar Uruz Rabbani in which Khatoon’s appointment was upheld. Khatoon is the first woman to hold this post in the history of the institute. During the proceedings, Justice Chandran offered to separate himself from the case citing his previous role as a Chancellor in a similar selection process.
Faizan Mustafa selected
Justice Chandran said that when I selected Faizan Mustafa. At that time I was the Chancellor of Consortium (CNLU) of National Law University, so I can separate myself from the hearing. Solicitor General Tushar Mehta said that we (Justice Chandran) have full faith. There is no need to separate from the hearing. You can decide. The Chief Justice said, “Let my brother (Justice Chandran) decide. List the matter before the bench, whose part is not Justice Chandran. Now this petition will be heard before the second bench. Initially on behalf of the petitioner, senior advocate Kapil Sibal questioned the validity of the selection process. ”
This method of appointing the Vice Chancellors
This is the way to appoint vice -chancellors, so I tremble only thinking what will happen in the future. He said that the results were affected due to two important votes, one of which was also of the outgoing Vice Chancellor. Sibal said, “If those two votes are left, they would have got only 6 votes. Additional Solicitor General Aishwarya Bhati opposed this argument and emphasized the historical nature of Khatoon’s appointment. He argued that this is partly selection and partially choice. The High Court may not agree with our election logic, but it upheld his appointment. He said that the petitioner did not challenge the relevant appointments like Provost (equivalent of Dean).
Vice Chancellor should avoid participating in the voting process
However, the Chief Justice said that in an ideal situation, the Vice Chancellor should have avoided participating in the voting process. He also said, “Even in the decisions of the collegium, if such a situation arises, we separate ourselves (from the process).
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