A decision of Gujarat’s Hemchandracharya North Gujarat University has become a cause of controversy these days, when the university appointed a professor of the Chemistry Department as the HOD of the English Department. This decision not only created dissatisfaction within the university, but the matter even reached the court. Where the court asked sharp questions to the administration.

This whole matter started when the HOD of the English Department, Adesh Pal, retired in June 2025. After this, the university appointed Kokilaben Parmar, a faculty member of the Chemistry Department, as the HOD of the English Department. Hetal Patel, a faculty member of the English Department, disagreed with this decision and challenged this appointment in the Education Tribunal.

What argument did the university give?

After making a Chemistry professor the HOD of English in Gujarat, lawyer Meet Shah, on behalf of the university, argued in the court that the seniority of the faculty in the English department had not yet been decided. He also said that Kokilaben Parmar was given only administrative responsibilities and was not given the role of taking academic decisions. The university also argued that this was not a service matter but a temporary administrative arrangement. Therefore the tribunal had no jurisdiction to hear this case.

Role of Tribunal and High Court

On October 10, 2025, the university’s decision was stayed in the Education Tribunal. After this, Kokilaben Parmar approached the High Court and said that the tribunal issued the stay order without listening to her. A week later, the High Court stayed the tribunal’s order. Meanwhile, the university also challenged the tribunal’s decision in the High Court.

Court asked tough questions

During the hearing on this matter on Tuesday, Justice Nirjar Desai directly asked the university that how can a chemistry professor understand the academic problems of English literature students. The university could not give any concrete answer on this and only said that the role of the in-charge HOD was limited to administrative. The court also raised the question that how would an HOD be able to help students without knowledge of the subject. After this, the university presented a draft order before the court, in which it was proposed to make a faculty member of the English department in-charge in place of Kokilaben Parmar. At the same time, the university also clarified that due to the stay order of the High Court, it was not able to make changes immediately. Apart from this, Hetal Patel also raised objection on the name of the faculty member and cited the rules of seniority on appointment. After this, Kokilaben Parmar and the university withdrew their petitions. On the objection of Hetal Patel, the High Court said that she can challenge this new appointment before the appropriate authority under the law.

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