Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday refused to stay the Chancellor’s order removing the Kalady Srisankaracharya Sanksrit University Vice-Chancellor Dr M V Narayanan. But the court stayed the order removing Calicut varsity VC M K Jayarajan until further notice.
Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan is the Chancellor of state universities.
Justice CP Muhammed Nias gave the order while hearing the petitions filed by Narayanan and Jayarajan, challenging the March 7 order of the Governor, which annulled their appointments citing UGC guideline violations.
The governor’s action followed a previous Supreme Court order which upheld the dismissal of Technical University VC Dr Rajashree. Subsequently, Narayanan approached the High Court, but Justice Nias upheld the arguments of the Chancellor and the UGC.
The inclusion of the Chief Secretary into the Calicut varsity search committee, which was meant to select the VCs, led to Jayarajan’s expulsion from his position. But during the argument in court, Jayarajan stated that the Chief Secretary, who held a temporary position in the search committee was a talented academic. He was the nominee of Chancellor, the petitioner added.
Meanwhile, Narayanan argued that the search committee recommended his name since he was the most qualified candidate, who applied for the position of Sanskrit University VC. But the court asked whether the hearing was on the violation of UGC guidelines, which direct more than one name should be recommended by the search committee, for the selection of the VCs.
