After a brief lull, Arif Mohammad Khan resumes his battle with the ruling LDF in Kerala

Was Priya Varghese underqualified?

A complaint filed by the Thiruvananthapuram-based Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) alleging irregularities in Varghese’s selection contended that she did not meet the minimum eligibility for the post — a research degree with eight years of experience at the assistant professor level.

The SUCC claimed that Varghese had joined as an assistant professor at the Sree Kerala Varma College, Thrissur, in 2012, and had then taken three years leave to complete her PhD.

It contended that as per Clause 3.9, UGC Regulation of 2018, the time taken by candidates to acquire a qualifying degree cannot be considered teaching experience for appointment to a teaching position.

Kannur University, where Priya Varghese has been appointed associate professor. (Creative Commons)

The Opposition Congress-led UDF too entered the fray, alleging nepotism at Kannur University. It said an experienced candidate, who had a research score of nearly 650, received 30 marks in the interview, while Varghese, who scored just about 150, was given 32 marks.

Both the UDF and SUCC have demanded the cancellation of the rank list, which was prepared just before Kannur University Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran’s term was about to end in November 2021. As a result of the controversy, the decision on the appointment was kept pending.

However, on the state government’s recommendation, Ravindran was, rather unusually, reappointed as vice chancellor of Kannur University on November 24, 2021, for a four-year term. He soon sought legal counsel on Varghese’s appointment and the University Senate finally confirmed her appointment last month.

The SUCC and the UDF contend that Ravindran’s reappointment as vice chancellor of Kannur University was a quid pro quo for approving Varghese’s recruitment, and that it would send a wrong message to other vice chancellors.

Even Khan later publicly rued Ravindran’s reappointment, though he had ratified the decision.

The latest move against Varghese was, however, entirely unexpected as the Governor had been sitting on the SUCC petition for many months.

Why is Governor miffed with Kerala University?

Interestingly, Governor Khan already has another front opened against the government — over the Thiruvananthapuram-based Kerala University.

This is an institution with which he has had spats in the past, the most famous of which occurred in January this year. Khan had then publicly rued the poor quality of vice chancellors of universities in Kerala in general, even as he trained his guns on Vice Chancellor VP Mahadevan Pillai — though without naming him — over his poor language proficiency.

“My head hung in shame when the vice chancellor was found incapable of writing two proper sentences. Kerala University is one of the oldest in the country,” the Governor told reporters, referring to a brief letter written by the vice chancellor to him that had made its way onto social media.

The handwritten note from Kerala University vice chancellor to the Governor. (Supplied)

Pillai’s handwritten letter to Khan was to decline the Governor’s suggestion that a D.Litt be conferred by the university on then President Ramnath Kovind.

“After returning, I have discussed with several members of Syndicate about the matter of conferring D.Litt degree to his excellency the President of India. The members of the Syndicate turn (sic) it down,” Pillai had written.

After the Governor’s public shaming over his language abilities, Pillai penned a more evocative note, this time typed in Malayalam: “I am very careful not to lose the grammar and spelling of life. The hands tend to tremble when the mind is shaken and I do not see it as a shortcoming.”

In any case, Khan’s ire was over the fact that Pillai had not put the proposal before the University Senate and had merely consulted a few members who, he said, had shot down the idea.

Now, with the Mahadevan Pillai’s term set to end in October, Khan has announced the constitution of an expert committee to find a candidate for the post.

The two-man committee conundrum

The Kerala University Act requires that a three-member committee be involved in the search for a new vice chancellor — the Chancellor’s nominee, a University Grants Commission (UGC) nominee, and a nominee of the University Senate.

Khan’s committee, however, only has his own and the UGC nominee, with an official communique from Raj Bhavan stating that a university nominee would be included later, as and when the institution finalised its representative.

Khan’s rather unusual move comes at a time when the state government is preparing an ordinance to curtail the role of the Chancellor in the affairs of universities, including recruitments and nominations.

According to Kerala University sources, the senate had actually met in July and chosen Planning Board Vice-chairperson VK Ramachandran as its nominee for the search committee.

However, the senate decided against conveying its choice to the Raj Bhavan. That was aimed at delaying the selection process until the ordinance that limits the Governor’s role in the selection of vice chancellors is promulgated.

This is what provoked the Governor to take the unprecedented step of appointing two nominees, leaving the provision of appointing the Senate’s nominee in due course to ensure that the selection process is not stalled.

With Khan now questioning the appointment of Priya Varghese, the battlelines have once again been drawn. It remains to be seen who comes out on top.