HC directs Cong leader to serve personal notice to NITHM

The High Court directed the counsel for Congress senior leader Bakka Judson to issue personal notices to the National Institution of Tourism and Hospitality Management (NITHM) and Dr S Chinnam Reddy on the writ of quo warranto filed by Congress leader Bakka Judson challenging the appointment of Dr S Chinnam Reddy as Director of NITHM though  the Selection Committee rejected his application as he lacks requisite qualifications prescribed for the post of director.
According to Judson, despite of the rejection by Scrutiny Committee, Chinnam Reddy was appointed as Director of NITHM as per the note sent by the Principal Secretary to Chief Minister KCR to Secretary, Tourism Department.  Prior to this appointment Chinnam Reddy was working as Professor of Statistics at Marwadi Education Foundations group of Institutions, Rajkot.
As the Scrutiny Committee rejected his application, Chinnam Reddy, who holds a Masters Degree and PhD in Statistics used his proximity to Chief Minister and got issued a Government Order in February 2016 appointing him as Director of NITHM, which is a Central and State Government joint venture Institute for Tourism & Hospitality located in Gachibowli, Hyderabad.
Judson stated this illegal and arbitrary appointment came to light when the Accountant General (Comptroller and Auditor General of India) conducted an inspection of NITHM in August 2023. The audit report among other issues plaguing NITHM states, “despite not having required qualification and rejection of his application previously, he was appointed as Director of NITHM which lacks justification and the reasons for such selection was also not on record. Further, he had not submitted the relevant copies of his qualifications and experience.
It was observed that tenure of office for Director was not fixed in G.O.Rt.No.118 for appointment of Director as such he has been continuing as Director for more than 7 years.”
Burra Venkatesham, the then Secretary of Tourism and Chairman of NITHM, brushed aside 25 applications received for the post of director in response to the advertisements and clandestinely appointed Chinnam Reddy as Director of NITHM and fixed his salary against the advice of the Finance Department.  Today, Chinnam Reddy gets a whopping Rs 3.6 lakh monthly salary more than any Vice-Chancellor or Governor of the State.