PEC director approaches HC against his relieving orders from Chandigarh administrator
Setia, a professor (civil engineering) from NIT Kurukshetra, was appointed the PEC director in August 2021 for a period of five years. His relieving orders were issued on May 16 with effect from June 3 as the retirement age, as per PEC’s Memorandum of Association (MOA), is 62.
Punjab Engineering College (PEC) director Baldev Setia has approached the Punjab and Haryana high court, challenging the UT administration’s May 16 notification whereby he has been relieved of the post from June 3, the day he attains 62 years of age.
Setia, a professor (civil engineering) from NIT Kurukshetra, was appointed the PEC director in August 2021 for a period of five years. His relieving orders were issued on May 16 with effect from June 3 as the retirement age, as per PEC’s Memorandum of Association (MOA), is 62.
As an interim measure, it was announced that PEC deputy director Siby John would perform the duties of the director till the appointment of a new director.
As per Setia, the Centre had issued a notification in March 2022 wherein the retirement age of teaching faculty was raised to 65 years and this notification has been adopted by the Chandigarh administration.
As per his lawyer RPS Bara, Setia has argued that the board of governors of PEC had enhanced the retirement age of faculty to 65 years, and had also made a recommendation to Chandigarh administration on October 30, 2023, to increase the retirement age of the director to 65 years. However, UT has not amended the MoA or taken any action on the recommendation, it says.
The plea seeks that the May 16 order be quashed and UT be directed to amend the MoA, increasing the date of retirement of directors to 65 years. PEC director Baldev Setia was unavailable for comments. The plea is likely to be taken up for hearing on May 24.
