Last updated: 01 October 2022, 17:29 IST
Kerala Supreme Court extended his stay on a recent controversial appointment of a Malayalam associate professor at Kannur University (Image: News18)
The University Grants Commission (UGC), which was previously challenged in the case, told the Supreme Court on Friday that Varghese does not have the required teaching experience for the position.
Kerala Supreme Court extended its stay on Friday over a recent controversial appointment of a Malayalam associate professor at Kannur University. Justice Devan Ramachandran extended the stay on the appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of KK Ragesh who is the Secretary to the Chief Minister, in the Malayalam department of the varsity until October 20.
Meanwhile, the University Grants Commission (UGC), which had previously been challenged in the case, told the Supreme Court on Friday that Varghese does not have the required teaching experience for the position. In the affidavit, UGC said that her research period cannot be considered as a teaching period.
The stay was on a plea from one Joseph Skaria who came second after Varghese on the university grade list. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, in his capacity as chancellor of universities in the state, had previously postponed her nomination, claiming Kannur University’s decision to appoint her was “political”.
Read | Kerala government defends Kannur University move to appoint Priya Varghese as associate professor
In the plea, Skaria had argued that the appointment had not been made according to the correct procedure. Varghese had been proposed by the varsity to be appointed as an associate professor in the Malayalam department, which led to a huge political row as she had the lowest research score but the highest in the round of interviews and was named first in the selection process.
Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister R Bindu had said that the state government was not involved in making arrangements in the varsities and that only the universities can do so and that also under the law regarding the same.
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