THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Kerala Law Academy Law College (KLALC), the centre stage of a students' agitation for the past three weeks against its principal P Lekshmi Nair, on Tuesday removed her from the post for the next five years.
After discussions with representatives of the Student Federation of India (SFI), the management also assured students that Lakshmi would not continue as a member of the faculty for the next five years and that the college would be re-opened on Wednesday.
Addressing a news conference, KLALC Director N Naryanan Nair said Vice Principal M M Madhavan Potti would be given charge as principal. The management also accepted all the demands put forward by the students including setting up of a five-member committee to inquire into allegations of malpractice in award of internal marks. It assured that there will not be any action against students who participated in the agitation. One of the 17 demands that were agreed upon at the meeting included the formation of a Parent-Teacher Association.
The Government on Tuesday ordered an inquiry into the land given to the Kerala Law Academy Law College (KLALC), which has become controversial after all the political parties demanded the government to take back the land. The inquiry has been initiated based on a letter by veteran CPM leader V S Achuthanandan seeking a probe into the land given to KLALC.
''Principal Secretary has been asked to inquire about the land given to the Academy. He has been asked to file a report at the earliest,'' Revenue Minister E Chandrashekaran said.
It is learned that Revenue Secretary P H Kurian would look into whether the land is being used for any other purpose for which it has been allotted and if any illegal construction has been done in the land. The inquiry would also look into construction and sale of flats by the society in association with a private real estate construction company at Punnen Road.
In his letter, Achuthanandan had asked the government to take over the KLALC land which is being used for purposes other than what it is given for, along with its establishments. He also sought to know whether the land was allocated to a Trust with similar organisational structure and whether it's being utilised for purposes other than what it was given for, should be inspected. He also demanded to probe the construction and sale of flats at Punnen Road.
The land was given on lease to a Trust with Governor as the chief patron and the chief minister as patron in 1968 for three years. It was later extended for 30 years in 1976 and was finally assigned to the Trust in 1985 by K Karunakaran Government.