Supreme Court quashes reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as Kannur University Vice Chancellor
The Hindu
Suprem court quashes Kerala government’s reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as Kannur Univercisty VC, citing "unwarranted interference". Kerala High court had upheld the re-appointment, but SC said it was based on govt's request, not independent evaluation of VC's contributions, violating UGC regs.
The Supreme Court on November 30 (Thursday) quashed the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University.
Serving a blow to the Kerala government, a Bench headed by Chief Justice of India D.Y. Chandrachud, in a judgment, has set aside a decision of the Kerala High Court which had upheld the validity of a November 23, 2021 notification re-appointing Mr. Ravindran.
The judgment, authored by Justice J.B. Pardiwala for the Bench, accused the Kerala government of “unwarranted interference” in the re-appointment and the resultant abdication/surrender of his statutory powers by the Chancellor/Governor.
The court said that though the November 2021 notification was issued in the Chancellor’s name, “the decision stood vitiated by the unwarranted interference by State government.”
Justice Pardiwala read out in court a press release issued by Raj Bhavan saying that the Chief Minister and the Higher Education Minister had kickstarted the re-appointment process.
The Kerala High Court had upheld the re-appointment, saying the process was done in compliance with the Kannur University Act, 1996.
The High Court had reasoned that the University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations and parameters were followed at the time of initial appointment. It had said the criterion of the age of the candidate was not applicable.
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