KOCHI: Kerala High Court on Wednesday dismissed a petition challenging the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University. Justice Amit Rawal said that "both of you argued the matter well, but I am dismissing the petition."
The court issued the order while dismissing the quo warranto writ petition filed by Premachandran Keezhoth and Shino P. Jose, members of the Senate and Academic Council respectively of the university. The petitioners argued that the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran was not based on any independent evaluation or consideration of his contributions. The decision to reappoint him was taken at the State Government’s request. Therefore, the appointment was in violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, they said.
The High Court has dismissed the petition at a time when Gopinath's reappointment has become a political row with Opposition UDF alleging that Higher Education Minister R Bindhu favoured his appointment bypassing laws.
The petitioners contended that as per the UGC Regulations, the selection for the post of Vice-Chancellor should be made through proper identification of three to five persons by a search-cum-selection committee. Ravindran was reappointed for four years with effect from November 24, 2021, after withdrawing a notification issued earlier constituting a three-member selection committee. The appointment was made in total disregard to the prohibition as contained in Section 10 (9) of the Kannur University Act.