New Delhi: When Priya Varghese’s appointment case came up before the Supreme Court on Tuesday, September 8, Kannur University found itself with two lawyers in court- the counsel appointed during the previous LDF government’s tenure and the new counsel appointed after the change of government.

The unusual courtroom situation unfolded as Kannur University moved to replace Adv K R Subhash Chandran with Adv Zulfikar Ali P S, the new standing counsel appointed by the UDF government in the Supreme Court.

The university had emailed Chandran asking him to hand over the case to Zulfikar. A vakalat authorising Zulfikar was also emailed. But Chandran had not issued the no-objection certificate (NOC) required for the new counsel to formally come on record. “It was awkward because the university had already mailed us both the new instructions. But Subhash Chandran refused to give me the NOC without receiving the instructions in hard copy,” Zulfikar told Onmanorama.

Subhash Chandran may have had his reasons for hanging on to the case, which has been mired in allegations of political favouritism from the beginning.

The case concerns the appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of CPM Kannur district secretary K K Ragesh, as Associate Professor of Malayalam at Kannur University. Subhash Chandran and Ragesh were active in SFI during the same period, and Subhash Chandran remains an active member of the CPM-affiliated lawyers’ organisation.

When the university published its provisional rank list in July 2022, Varghese was ranked first despite having the lowest research score among the six candidates shortlisted for interview. Joseph Skariah of St Berchmans College, Changanassery, who was ranked second, challenged her appointment in the Kerala High Court, questioning whether she had the required eight years of teaching experience.

The UGC subsequently joined the legal battle, arguing that the period Varghese spent pursuing her PhD under the Faculty Development Programme (FDP) could not be counted as teaching experience.

The single bench of the High Court ruled against Priya Varghese in November 2022, saying that experience as a guest lecturer, time taken to complete the PhD, and deputation period as Director of Students Service cannot be counted as teaching experience.

But the division bench ruled in her favour in June 2023, and the university gave her the appointment order.

The UGC immediately approached the Supreme Court against the Division Bench order, but that did not stop Priya Varghese from joining the university's Malayalam Department at Nileshwar campus in July 2023.
Skariah too has approached the Supreme Court against the Division Bench order.

Kannur University, under the previous LDF government, consistently defended Varghese’s appointment. That position is now set to change. Kannur University had filed an affidavit in the Supreme Court too, backing her appointment. Sources in the university syndicate- the highest decision-making body- said chances of filing another affidavit countering the earlier stance were remote. "Instead, our counsel would tacitly side with the UGC," said a Syndicate member. "That is why Subhash Chandran did not want to hand over the case," he said. "But we had anticipated this and had already posted the hard copy directing him to hand over the case to Zulfikar. It will be reaching Delhi tomorrow," the syndicate member said on Tuesday.

Technically, Adv Chandran represented the Registrar of Kannur University, the seventh respondent in the Supreme Court case. On Tuesday, the Syndicate removed the Left-leaning Registrar, Prof Joby K Jose, also from the post.

Adv Zulfikar said he is expecting to get the NOC before September 23, the next hearing. The case is at the final disposal stage, and a verdict can be expected soon, he said.