Allahabad: The Allahabad High Court on Thursday sought response from Vice Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University and his deputy over a petition by the varsity's former Registrar who has alleged that his resignation was obtained "under duress".
He has also alleged that his resigning was accepted ignoring his application for its withdrawal.
A division bench comprising Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and Justice P K S Baghel passed the order on the petition of Group Captain Shahrukh Shamshad, who had resigned as the Registrar of the university on September 29, reportedly "on health grounds".
The court, while directing the V-C Lt Gen Zamiruddin Shah and Pro V-C Brigadier Ahmed Ali to file their counter-affidavits, fixed January 7 as the next date of hearing.
The resignation of Shamshad had come close on the heels of a direction to the Union HRD Ministry received from the Vice-President's office to look into allegations of irregularities in his appointment to the post.
The Vice President's office had been approached by a former student union leader Shahzad Alam "Barani" who had alleged, citing an RTI query, that Shamshad had submitted forged documents to secure the job.
In his petition, Shamshad has claimed that the resignation letter dated September 29 was "obtained under duress" by the varsity authorities who also ignored an application for its withdrawal immediately afterwards.
The former Registrar has also questioned the Vice-Chancellor's move whereby the resignation was accepted without convening a meeting of the Executive Council.
