KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Tuesday declined to stay the order of Governor Arif Mohammad Khan, in his capacity as chancellor of universities in the state, appointing Ciza Thomas as acting vice-chancellor (VC) in charge of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU).
The state government argued that Ciza Thomas’s appointment was not as per the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Act, 2015.
While the Vijayan government gave their nominee, Digital University of Kerala Vice-Chancellor Saji Gopinath, to the post of in-charge VC, Khan refused that as Saji was among the VCs served a show-cause notice by the Raj Bhavan, and instead appointed Thomas last week.
Later, the government proposed Higher Education Secretary Ishita Roy to the post but it was also turned down by the governor on the grounds that she was overburdened with many responsibilities including as temporary Vice-Chancellor of Kerala Agriculture University.
The state government then approached the High Court, seeking a stay.
Ciza Thomas was serving as senior joint director, director of technical education, when she was made the acting VC as additional charge, till a full fledged VC will be appointment.
The state government argued that the provisions of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Act, 2015 do not bestow any unfettered power or discretion on the chancellor to appoint any person of his choice as VC of the university. The chancellor can act under section 13 (7) of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Act, 2015 only on the recommendation of the government, it said.
It said that Ciza Thomas' appointment in terms of Section 13 (7) of the Act can only be for a period not exceeding six months but the notification issued by the chancellor permits her to exercise the powers and functions of the VC until further orders, hence, the notification was unsustainable in law.
The state government also said that in the event of a VC vacancy arising in the university, only the VC of any other university or the pro-vice chancellor of the university, or the secretary to the government, higher education department, as recommended by the government, can be appointed as the VC to hold office till a regular VC is selected.
Ciza is neither the VC of any other university nor the pro-VC, hence, the notification issued by the chancellor ordering Ciza to exercise the powers and functions of the VC of the university, ignoring the recommendation of the government is ‘void ab initio’ and illegal, the government said.
Senior advocate Jaju Babu, counsel for the chancellor, cited the October judgment by the Supreme Court which cancelled the appointment of Rajasree MS as VC of KTU after it was found to be in violation of University Grants Commission (UGC) norms, and said that temporary arrangements too can be made as per UGC norms.
Ciza Thomas was a professor at Trivandrum Engineering College for more than 10 years. That may be the reason which prevailed upon the chancellor to prefer her, the counsel said.
The high court today said that the opinion of the UGC is important. "The opinion of the UGC becomes vital and for that purpose, I suo motu implead the UGC as an additional respondent in the case," said Justice Devan Ramachandran, while opposing the stay sought by the state government.
The court will consider the matter further on Friday.
The court issued a notice to the chancellor of KTU, registrar, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, and Ciza Thomas.
SC cancelled former VC's appointment
The Supreme Court (SC) in October had cancelled former VC of KTU Rajasree’s appointment to the post.
A former candidate for the same post, Dr Sreejith PS, had filed a petition against the appointment.
Dr Sreejith, the former dean of Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), was one of the shortlisted candidates for the post of VC at KTU, as per the first list.
A second notification was released upon the dissolution of the search committee which excluded Sreejith's name. On February 19, 2019, the Chancellor appointed Dr Rajashree MS to the post.
Sreejith challenged this in the HC, but a single bench said UGC norms were not binding in the matter unless adopted by the state government, citing the top court's judgement in Kalyani Mathivanan v KV Jeyaraj 2015.
After a division bench also dismissed his plea, he moved the Supreme Court. He also said the search committee had a representative of the All India Council for Technical Education instead of a UGC nominee.
An apex court bench headed by Justice MR Shah stated that the search committee created by the state was to recommend the names of at least three suitable candidates in the field of engineering sciences to the Chancellor. It however only sent the name of Rajashree MS, which is in violation of UGC norms as well as the University Act of 2015.
Rajasree was appointed in 2019 for a period of four years and her exit came at a time when there were only a few months left for her to retire.
Following this, the governor sent notices to 11 VCs who were appointed in violation of UGC guidelines as flagged by the SC.
(With inputs from Express News Service)