Retired HC judge nominated for post of BHU chancellor

“Karn Singh had earlier held the post and since 2016, the vice-chancellor has been officiating as chancellor. The BHU court elects the chancellor, but it had not met since 2015. The court met today and the name of retired Justice Giridhar Malviya was suggested by V-C Rakesh Bhatnagar, which was unanimously agreed to,” said BHU’s public relations officer Rajesh Singh.

Speaking to The Indian Express after his nomination, Justice Malviya, who had practised in criminal, civil and constitutional matters and was appointed as permanent judge of the Allahabad High Court in 1988, said, “I thank everyone for nominating me. It is halfway down as I have been unanimously nominated by the court. Now, it is up to the President to accept the recommendation and issue a notification.”

Asked about his new role, Malviya said, “It is an ornamental position. I can be in touch with matters of the university…”

Malviya, who had chaired a committee constituted by the Union Ministry of Water Resources, River Development and Ganga Rejuvenation to prepare a draft Ganga Act and had submitted its report in April last year, is also chairman of the ‘Ganga Mahasabha’, founded by his grandfather.

He said he has been associated with the movement since the days of ‘Ganga Action Plan-1’, and has made various suggestions and recommendations over the years including the demand to maintain continous flow of the river, but “hardly anything substantial” has taken place at the ground level. He added that from September to mid-June, it is mainly dirty water from factories of Kanpur and Fatehpur, along with untreated sewage, that flows in Allahabad or Varanasi.

As one of the proposers of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s candidature from Varanasi in 2014, Malviya had said, “Narendra Modi ji desh ko aage le jayenge aur sab logon ki sarva dharma sambhav ki baat karte hue, pratek jati pratek varga ko aage lejane ke liye karya karenge (Narendra Modi will take the country forward, he will talk of unity of all religions and take forward every caste and community).”

Asked if he still stands by his statement, he said, “I still stand by it…his (PM’s) efforts are absolutely positive,” adding that it is the bureaucracy at the ground level and in the state that was not effective.