CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan said that the verdict was a blow to Khan in view of the stand taken by him regarding her appointment.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan.
The ruling CPI(M) on Friday, 23 June, said the Kerala High Court ruling in favour of Priya Varghese — wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s private secretary KK Ragesh — being appointed in the Malayalam Department of Kannur University, was a “blow” to Governor Arif Mohammad Khan.
CPI(M) state secretary MV Govindan led the charge against the Governor who had consistently attacked the ruling LDF over what he termed as “nepotism” in appointments in Kerala’s universities.
He had taken a particularly hard stand against the appointment of Priya Varghese, alleging favouritism in her selection as associate professor in the university.
“It is a blow to the Governor. Look at what he had said. It is a blow to you (media) too. You too were very vocal on that issue,” Govindan said.
Khan, in his capacity as Chancellor of universities in the state, had last year stayed Varghese’s appointment and alleged that Kannur University’s move to appoint her was “political”.
“The process of the appointment… it appears to be a case of favouritism and nepotism. A person who is not qualified to be appointed as an assistant professor prima facie is appointed because she is the spouse of the secretary to the chief minister. This is political. There is absolutely no doubt,” he had said.
On Thursday, the Kerala High Court ruled that Varghese has the relevant experience to be appointed as Malayalam associate professor in the varsity and her candidature for that position be considered accordingly.
The ruling came on Varghese’s appeal challenging a single-judge order of a lower court, in November last year, that had said that she lacked the relevant period of actual teaching experience as stipulated under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations of 2018.
Varghese has welcomed the verdict and said ever since the issue cropped up and till the judgement was delivered, she had suffered a lot of victimisation.
“I would term it as a hunt. There was a lot of sadness in my life as a result. I am now happy with the verdict. I have got justice,” she told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday.
Kannur University Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran, after the verdict came, had said the varsity would take a decision according to the directions contained in the judgement.
“I have not read the judgement. Once I go through it, a decision will be taken accordingly,” he had told reporters in Kannur.
The proposed appointment of Varghese to the post in question last year triggered a massive political row as she had the lowest research score but the highest in the interview round and was declared first in the selection process.
Earlier, the left party and the Governor were in a standoff regarding the appointment of Varghese as also vice chancellors of the universities under the state government.
While Vijayan and his Cabinet colleagues accused Khan of trying to implement an RSS agenda in the higher education sector in the state, the Governor has been raising charges of severe nepotism while targeting the top leaders of the ruling front.
There have been numerous instances of confrontation between the Governor and the Vijayan Cabinet.
The reappointment of CPI(M) loyalist Dr Gopinath Ravindran as vice-chancellor of Kannur University was among the first sources of tension.
The appointment of Priya Varghese in the Malayalam Department of Kannur University, a decision approved by Ravindran, added fuel to the fire. Varghese’s husband KK Ragesh, apart from being Vijayan’s secretary, is a former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member.
As matters escalated, Governor Khan, on 23 October last year, directed VCs Dr VP Mahadevan Pillai (University of Kerala), Dr Sabu Thomas (Mahatma Gandhi University), Dr KN Madhusoodhanan (Cochin University of Science and Technology), Dr K Riji John (Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies), Dr Gopinath Ravindran (Kannur University), Dr MS Rajashree (APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University), Dr MV Narayanan (Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit), Dr MK Jayaraj (Calicut University) and Dr V Anil Kumar (Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University) to resign as their appointments were said to be violative of UGC norms.
However, the Kerala High Court permitted them to continue in office for the time being.
The court refrained from making any observations on the rights of the Governor over the universities as their Chancellor.
Subsequently, a Cabinet meeting held on 9 November decided to draft the ordinance and send it for approval to Khan following legal advice that the Chancellor’s post held by the Governor lacks constitutional validity.
On 21 November, the Governor taking a dig at the chief minister said nepotism in university appointments cannot be allowed and that if Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan was unaware of what was happening in his office, then he was “incompetent, referring to Varghese’s appointment.
On 23 November, after the Assembly was summoned, Governor Khan said the ordinance issued by the Left government seeking to remove him as the Chancellor of universities had became “infructuous”.
(With PTI inputs)
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