The amendment of the rules under the IIM Act was prompted by recent changes to the law, introduced during this year’s Monsoon Session of Parliament.
Three months after amending the Indian Institute of Management (IIM) Act to assert more authority over the 20 premier business schools, the Ministry of Education (MoE) has officially notified revised rules that lay down three grounds for dissolving an institute’s governing Board.
As first reported by The Indian Express on November 11, the Union government, represented by the President who is the Visitor of all IIMs in this case, can dissolve the board of an IIM for persistent disobedience of its orders, in public interest, and in case of circumstances beyond the board’s control hindering its duties.
The amended rules, now in effect, also clearly define the extent of the President’s power regarding removal of an IIM director. The rules explicitly state that the institute’s board is obligated to follow the decisions of the Visitor in this regard, leaving no room for debate.
For the first time, the Rules under the IIM Act firmly establish the educational qualifications of an IIM director. It specifies that any candidate for the position should possess a first-class degree at both the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels, in addition to a PhD or an equivalent qualification. Earlier, the criteria used to be a “distinguished academic with PhD or equivalent” and there was no mention of the required division for the degrees.
This move is significant as it comes against the backdrop of the IIM Rohtak case, where it was discovered that the incumbent director, Dheeraj Sharma, had a second-class Bachelor’s degree while the government, while advertising the post, had mandated a first-class Bachelor’s degree The Ministry of Education had informed the Punjab and Haryana High Court last year that Sharma had misrepresented his educational qualification.