Hyderabad, July 28 (INN): In a major setback to the Telangana state government, The Hyderabad High Court on Thursday rejected the appointment of nine vice-chancellors by the Telangana Government on the ground that the appointments were not done on the basis of qualifications.

The court issued the order after hearing a petition challenging the validity of the procedure of appointment filed by a professor of Osmania University.

D Manohar Rao, a retired professor of Osmania University, had challenged the Government Order (GO) on the ground that it would dilute the academic qualifications and experience required for the post and result in lowering the standards at the university.

The government on Tuesday appointed VCs to eight universities including Osmania, JNTU, Ambedkar Open University, Kakatiya, Telugu University, Palamuru and Prof.Jayashankar Agricultural University.

The government appointed the VCs through a GO based on their qualifications deviating from an established procedure of selecting VCs by a search committee.

To avoid political interference in the administration of universities and protect their autonomous status, the search committee procedure was being followed for the appointment of VCs all these years. Most of the universities remained headless for over two years until CM KCR took a bold step to appoint VCs to eight major universities at a single stroke and that too in an unconventional manner.

The court quashed the GO after hearing a case filed by a professor of OU on the deviation of the procedure of VCs appointment. On the plea by the government, the appointments are kept under suspension till the appeal is filed or the next hearing of the case after four weeks.