High Court Directs Delhi Government To Appoint New Director To IHBAS 'At The Earliest'

The Delhi High Court today directed the Delhi Government to appoint, as expeditiously as possible, a new Director to head the Institute of Human Behaviour and Allied Sciences (IHBAS).

"We expect that recruitment will be completed at the earliest," observed a Division Bench of Chief Justice DN Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh while adjourning the plea against extension of tenure granted to incumbent Director, NG Desai, after he attained the age of 65 years.

The petition was filed by Tej Bahadur Singh, an ex-employee of the institute, claiming that Desai was appointed to the post in 2016 for five years, or up to the age of 65 years, whichever is earlier. Accordingly, Desai should have demitted office in October 2020, when he turned 65.

Singh alleged that the Delhi Government has been illegally extending his tenure for the reasons best known to them.

Four Illegal extensions have been given after retirement, Advocate Prashant Bhushan appearing for the Petitioner told the Court.

He further stated that whereas on one hand the Delhi Government has been using the pandemic as an excuse to not appoint a new full-time Director, it has on the other hand filed an affidavit stating that it needs to form a fresh screening-committee as the one constituted earlier was not in accordance with the law. "This is a delaying tactic," he alleged.

The Bench then turned to the Govt Advocate Mini Pushkarna, who stated that the law requires the screening committee to comprise of two subject experts, however, they were inadvertently not included in the earlier committee.

She assured the Court that the Executive Council, IHBAS, will finalize two experts in the first week of October, following which the recruitment process will be completed by November 30.

The Court, while adjourning the matter, told the Delhi Government,

"Work can also be completed prior to aforesaid limit of 30th November. There is no need to stick to this outer time limit."

The matter will now be heard on November 15.

Case Title: Tej Bahadur Singh v. GNCTD