A day after the Kerala high court ruled that Priya Varghese, wife of chief minister Pinarayan Vijayan’s private secretary K K Ragesh, was not qualified to be an associate professor at Kannur University, the varsity on Friday said it will not go for an appeal but insisted all procedures mandated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) were met during her appointment.
Talking to reporters in Kannur (north Kerala), vice-chancellor (VC) Gopinath Raveendran said Priya’s application was vetted carefully and legal opinion was also sought before her appointment.
The varsity had also written to the UGC for a clarification on her qualification but did not get any response, he said. Had the varsity responded on time, such a situation would not have risen, he said.
HT reached out to UGC secretary Rajnish Jain for a response but did not get one immediately.
Priya’s appointment was a major bone of contention between the state government and governor. On August 17, the governor, in his capacity as chancellor, stayed her post, further deepening differences with the state government.
In a major setback to the state government, which is currently locked in a tussle with governor Mohammed Arif Khan over functioning and appointments in universities, the high court on Thursday held that Priya was not qualified to become a professor at Kannur University and directed the varsity to publish a fresh rank list based on UGC guidelines.
“Varghese was not qualified and she did not have requisite teaching experience but she was interviewed and given the first rank flouting all norms,” the court said.
{{/usCountry}}“Varghese was not qualified and she did not have requisite teaching experience but she was interviewed and given the first rank flouting all norms,” the court said.
{{/usCountry}}According to UGC norms, a teaching experience of at least 10 years is mandatory to assume the post of an associate professor. While Priya’s experience was less than five years, she cited her posting with other departments to claim 11 years of experience which was rejected by the court.
“The rank list will be reviewed as directed by the court. We have no plans to file an appeal also,” Raveendran said.
“We had sought a clarification from the UGC whether the period spent by the candidate for the PhD research on deputation granted by the state government under the faculty development programme can be considered as teaching research experience for direct recruitment in the post. But we failed to get any reply from the apex body,” he added.
Raveendran was among 11 VCs the governor had asked to resign after the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of APJ Abdul Kalam University VC last month.