Kerala High Court on Monday stayed the appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of K.K. Ragesh, CPM leader and secretary of CM Pinarayi Vijayan, as Associate Professor in Kannur University, until August 31. High Court issued notices to the UGC on a petition by Prof. Joseph Scaria. Scaria got only second tank in the interview for the position while Priya got the first rank. Notice will be served on Priya through a special courier. Scaria’s prayer was to remove Priya from the rank list and revise the same. Governor, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the University, had stayed the appointment of Priya on charges of nepotism. Scaria’s counsel argued that Priya does not have eight year experience, the basic qualification.
Prof. Scaria’s Research Score was 651 while Priya got 156 !!! But, Priya got 32 marks for interview while Scaria got only 30. Scaria enjoys the teaching experience of more than 13 years.
HC’s stay is a hard blow for Pinarayi and his Left Democratic Front rule. It vindicates Governor’s firm stand.
Meanwhile Governor said today that Kannur University Vice Chancellor Gopinath Raveendran was a co-conspirator to attack him during the 80th History Congress held in Kannur University in late 2019. Rejecting Irfan Habeeb’s claim that he is an academician hence not a conspirator, Governor wondered how can an academician behave like a goon. He asked Habeeb to watch the video of the History Congress programme and see how he was trying to assault him (governor). He added that Habeeb’s action was not a protest.
In view of Kerala Government’s preparation for making laws to curtail the powers of the Governor, especially to strip the Governor of the power of the Chancellor of the universities, Arif Mohammed Khan said, he would not sign the bills which are against Supreme Court and the country’s Constitution.
Meanwhile, Save University Campaign Committee lodged a complaint before the Governor that Kannur University VC violated the parameters endorsed by Supreme Court. Governor sent a notice to the VC asking for a explanation regarding the violation of rules.
Another complaint Governor got was regarding Kerala Government’s bypassing of the rules for the appointment in Technical University. Federation of All Kerala University Employees Organisation, the complainant, demanded judicial enquiry into the appointments to the universities during the last six years.
