Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday extended its stay on the appointment of Priya Varghese as an associate professor at the Department of Malayalam at Kannur University.
Justice Devan Ramachandran extended the court's interim order, while adjourning the case challenging Piya's appointment. Priya is the wife of KK Ragesh, who is the private secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.
When the matter was taken up Tuesday, Kannur varsity counsel said that a senior would appear in the case. Thereby, the court adjourned the matter to November 2.
It is alleged that Priya had the worst research score among six applicants for the post in the Malayalam department.
However, she climbed the rank list after the interview that was conducted by a committee led by the vice-chancellor. The information came to light following an RTI inquiry.
Joseph Scariah, a candidate for the same post had ended up second in the final ranklist despite having a research score of 651 compared to Priya Varghese's 156.
In his petition, he sought a directive to the Kannur University and its selection committee to rework the rank list after removing Priya.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is also the Chancellor of state universities, stayed Priya's appointment in August alleging nepotism.
(With Live Law inputs)
