Justices J. Nisha Banu and M. Jothiraman dismissed the two appeals filed by IMU in 2022 and upheld the orders passed by Justice C. Saravanan on April 1, 2022.

Hindu news
Madras High Court dismisses writ appeals filed by Indian Maritime University against its first vice-chancellor
A Division Bench confirms a single judge’s order which had quashed his 2018 dismissal from the post of director of IMU’s Chennai campus besides setting aside a penalty of ₹22.65 lakh imposed on him
Updated – September 18, 2025 07:30 pm IST – CHENNAI

A Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and M. Jothiraman dismissed the two appeals filed by IMU in 2022 and upheld the orders passed by Justice C. Saravanan on April 1, 2022.

The Madras High Court has dismissed two writ appeals preferred by Indian Maritime University (IMU) against the order of a single judge who had quashed the dismissal order passed against its first vice-chancellor P. Vijayan and also set aside another order imposing a penalty of ₹22.65 lakh on him for the alleged loss caused to the university.

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A Division Bench of Justices J. Nisha Banu and M. Jothiraman dismissed the two appeals filed by IMU in 2022 and upheld the orders passed by Justice C. Saravanan on April 1, 2022. The single judge had allowed two writ petitions filed by Mr. Vijayan in 2018 and ordered his reinstatement in service as the Director of IMU’s Chennai campus.

The court pointed out Mr. Vijayan was initially employed with the National Institute of Industrial Engineering (NITIE). He, thereafter, got appointed as Director of National Maritime Academy (NMA) on May 28, 2008. The academy was merged with IMU with effect from November 14, 2008 and he was made its first vice chancellor for a period of three years from November 20, 2008.

After completion of the three-year tenure, he was posted as the Director of IMU’s Chennai campus. In January 2011, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had booked a case against him for alleged possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. After completion of investigation, a charge sheet was also filed against him in 2014.

Simultaneously, the IMU too initiated departmental proceedings. In 2015, the then vice-chancellor of IMU wrote to the Ministry of Shipping wondering how disciplinary action could be taken against Mr. Vijayan when he had been accused of amassing wealth much before his appointment as director of NMA. Yet, the university proceeded with the disciplinary action.

In 2016, a new charge was levelled against him and he was accused of unauthorized deployment of the services of menial staff for his personal use and also the alleged misuse of official vehicles thereby causing a loss of ₹22.65 lakh to IMU. The inquiry officer did not find him guilty of the charges. Yet, the executive council of IMU decided to impose punishments on him.

After disagreeing with the findings of the inquiry officer, the IMU, in 2018, removed Mr. Vijayan from the post of director of IMU’s Chennai campus and also imposed a penalty of ₹22.65 lakh. Justice Saravanan set aside both the punishments in 2022 and held that the writ petitioner was not an employee of IMU and therefore its service rules would not be applicable to him.

Upholding his order now, the Division Bench led by Justice Banu criticised IMU’s executive council for having disagreed with the findings of the inquiry officer. “There was no solid justification for disregarding the inquiry officer’s report and it may merely be termed as ‘standing on thin ice’… The foundation for the disciplinary action was also fundamentally weak and unstable, lacking any enduring legal basis,” the Bench added.