While the decision to transfer the case remains an administrative privilege of the Chief Justice of the Mumbai High Court, questions are being raised over the government's intentions to press for such a transfer. Especially, when the bench at Nagpur had issued notices before admission and a rule on stay -- directing the government to file an affidavit by April 22, enlisting reasons behind the shifting of the proposed university.

Justices B N Shrikrishna and S P Kulkarni, comprising the bench here, had given a patient hearing to the matter when it came for motion hearing, late last month.

Senior journalist Umesh Choube who, along with social activist Mannu Dutta, filed the PIL, criticised the transfer and observed thatthe government had shown distrust on the bench at Nagpur by seeking the PIL's transfer to Mumbai. ``We can understand the political interest of the minister concerned behind shifting the proposed university from Nagpur to Nashik but it is beyond our comprehension as to why he sought the transfer,'' he added.

Talking to reporters here on Thursday evening, he accused Health Minister Daulatrao Aher, who represents the Nashik assembly constituency of ``misusing government machinery to put spanners in the judicial remedy we have sought.'' The case was scheduled for a hearing before the bench at Nagpur on April 22. Few days before this, the government moved a plea before the Chief Justice urging that the PIL be heard in Mumbai on the grounds that the decision to shift the proposed university to Nashik was taken in the State capital and all the relevant records were available there.

Thereafter the office of the High Court Government Pleader here served notices to the petitioners on April 19. Choube and Duttasent a telegram to the CJ, urging that the case should not be transferred to Mumbai as they were neither in a position to travel to Mumbai nor able to hire services of a Mumbai-based lawyer.

The matter was heard in the CJ's chamber on April 21.