HC quashes Kerala CPM leader wife’s selection as Kannur University associate prof, says UGC norms inviolable

The bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran directed the competent authority to reconsider Varghese’s credentials and decide whether she should be in the ranked list. “On such [an] inquiry being completed and the rank list being suitably modified, further action to make appointments can be taken,” the court said.

Varghese’s selection was among the reasons for the flare-up of tension between the CPI(M)-led LDF government and Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who had stayed the appointment over alleged violation of norms and charges of political favouritism. Khan had called it a “political” appointment.

Hearing a petition moved by Joseph Skaria, another applicant to the post, the bench observed that Varghese did not have the qualification required, particularly teaching experience, to become an associate professor. The court ruled that her terms as Director of Student Services (DSS) and the coordinator of the National Service Scheme at the university cannot be taken as teaching experience.

“It can never be seen as a teaching experience as required by the UGC; the post of DSS was a non-teaching experience,” the court noted. “There is not a whisper in her argument that she had teaching experience while she was serving as assistant director at Kerala Language Institute.”

Skaria submitted that he was the top scorer on various parameters in the recruitment process, barring the interview. The university, the plea stated, had violated University Grants Commission’s (UGC) norms in appointing Varghese.

The UGC, which was impleaded in the case, had told the High Court that Varghese did not have the requisite qualification to become an associate professor at the university and her appointment was in violation of norms. It submitted that study leave she had taken to complete her PhD could not be considered as teaching or research experience.

The Kannur University Syndicate cleared Varghese’s name for appointment in November 2021, Days later, in an unusual development, Kannur University V-C Gopinath Ravindran was reappointed for another five years, which the Opposition had alleged was quid pro quo for selecting Varghese.

According to UGC, the required teaching experience for the post of associate professor is eight years, which does not include the leave period for study purposes. Under its regulations, the period of leave taken for PhD can be counted as teaching experience only if the scholar pursued research simultaneously with teaching assignments.