Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday cancelled the appointment of Dr K Riji John as the vice-chancellor of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS).
The HC order in this regard was over a petition filed by Dr KK Vijayan citing that UGC norms were flouted during the appointment.
The division bench consisting of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly said that the constitution of the selection committee and its recommendation in John's case was illegal.
Recently, the Supreme Court had set aside the VC appointment to the Kerala Technological University, citing the same reason.
The high court has now directed the Fisheries university to constitute a new selection committee and this time, ensure that the appointment process follows UGC rules.
John is also one of the nine VCs who were recently asked by the Governor, the Chancellor of the Universities, to tender their resignations on the ground that their appointments were allegedly illegal.
The Chancellor had referred to the recent decision of the Supreme Court, which set aside the appointment of Dr MS Rajashree as the VC of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University on the ground that the Search Committee forwarded only one name to the Chancellor instead of a panel of three to five names.
The court's verdict comes at a crucial juncture in the midst of a row between Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the Kerala Government over a slew of issues.
Khan had for long questioned the government's needless intervention in varsity affairs. He pointed out that the CPM's backdoor appointments to top posts in universities had crippled the entire education sector in the state.
Meanwhile, the ruling CPM-led left government is accusing the Governor of working at the behest of the BJP and the RSS to undermine it. It also alleged the Governor was abusing his powers as Chancellor to put the education sector in the state in limbo. An ordinance to abolish the powers of the Governor as Chancellor has been sent to the Raj Bhavan.
