Setback for NSS, Devaswom Board as HC quashes 'cunning' inter-varsity transfers of teachers without consent

Ernakulam: The Kerala High Court has ruled that teachers in aided colleges cannot be transferred across universities without their explicit written consent. The Division Bench's order is a setback for the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and Nair Service Society (NSS), accused of effecting "cunning" inter-university transfers to shield favourites and cover up appointments made without sufficient workload or sanctioned posts.

TDB and the NSS Colleges Committee, two corporate educational agencies, had appealed against two orders by Justice N Nagaresh, who, on May 13, quashed the transfers of two teachers from Mahatma Gandhi University to Kerala University without their consent.

In one case, TDB transferred Dr Sangeetha S, Assistant Professor of Botany at DB Pamba College, Parumala, to Sankupillai Memorial DB College, Sasthamkotta, on March 14.

Dr Sangeetha, then three months pregnant, learnt of the transfer only when the principal handed her TDB's marching orders while in the midst of a class.

The transfer was aimed at regularising the appointment of Dr Jincy T S, hired in June 2023 as an Assistant Professor to a non-existent post at DB Pamba College.

With the tacit approval of MG University, she has now been working there, but without a salary from the government for more than two years. At the same time, TDB permitted Ajitha D, another Assistant Professor, to return from DB College at Thalayolaparambu to DB Pamba College.

TDB runs two botany departments under MG University, with three posts at DB Pamba College and two at Thalayolaparambu. In 2019, Ajitha shifted to Thalayolaparambu college for family reasons. But after the 2020 government order requiring 16 teaching hours per week, her 12-hour workload there became untenable. Instead of bringing her back to Pamba College, where a sanctioned vacancy existed, TDB hired Jincy.

Under government rules, a corporate agency cannot appoint new teachers if it already has excess staff in the same subject and at the same university. A 2020 order further required universities to obtain prior approval from the Director of Collegiate Education before clearing any teaching appointments. Despite this, MG University approved Jincy's appointment. But the Deputy Directorate in Kottayam refused to give its approval, citing Ajitha's excess post.

TDB then devised a plan: transfer Sangeetha to Sasthamkotta, retain Ajitha in Pamba College, and regularise Jincy.  Despite losing the case before the single bench, TDB did not pay Dr Sangeetha's salaries for months, until the UGC intervened in September.

NSS also targets a female faculty member
In the second case, the NSS Colleges Committee transferred Dr Sukanya S Nair from NSS Hindu College, Changanassery (affiliated to MG University), to NSS College, Cherthala (affiliated to Kerala University).

NSS justified the transfer, saying she had zero workload at Changanassery. But the management engineered this by reallocating teaching hours to three of her juniors.

Dr Sukanya Nair joined the Department of Economics at Changanassery as an Assistant Professor on March 5, 2018. After her appointment, two more assistant professors were recruited, and on June 5, 2018, Anishkumar, an Assistant Professor from NSS College, Pandalam (Kerala University), was given an interuniversity transfer to Changanassery. Under university rules, such transferees are deemed the most junior, regardless of prior service.

This left the department with nine teachers sharing 125 workload hours per week -- enough for seven teachers to have the mandated 16 hours each, one to have 13 hours, and one to have none. Despite being senior to three colleagues, Sukanya was singled out as the teacher "without workload" and transferred to Cherthala without her consent. 

Though the state government quashed the illegal transfer order, the Director of Collegiate Education, MG University, and the college authorities failed to implement it, forcing her to seek relief from the High Court.

'Redeployment not transfer' 
After the single bench quashed the transfers, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) and NSS Colleges Committee moved the division bench. Both argued that the teachers were not "transferred" -- which would violate the law -- but merely "redeployed".

The NSS further sought permission to redeploy teachers from its aided colleges based on workload, without being bound by the university to which the college was affiliated. On this, Justices Anil K Narendran and Muralee Krishna S observed that it was for the government, not the court, to amend the law.

The bench, however, found the invocation of redeployment "interesting". Nowhere in the Kerala University Act or the MG University Act is the term defined or given statutory force. "The word 'redeployment' is a cunning attempt to effect inter-university transfer of a teacher without the teacher's consent," the court held, upholding the single bench orders.

Meanwhile, sources in the Deputy Directorate of Collegiate Education in Kottayam said that the government is planning to bring in a special rule to regularise the appointment of Dr Jincy.