Today, Thursday, June 22, the Kerala High Court set aside its single-judge order against the appointment which was proposed. The appointment being referred to is that of the wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's private secretary, Priya Varghese, as a Malayalam Associate Professor at Kannur University, stated a report in PTI.
Against the single-judge decision dated November 17, 2022, a bench of justices AK Jayasankaran Nambiar and Mohammed Nias CP allowed the appeal of the candidate, Priya Varghese.
"Writ appeal is allowed," the bench said, as per a lawyer linked to the case.
KK Ragesh is the Private Secretary of the Chief Minister of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan and Priya Varghese is the wife of Ragesh. She had challenged the single judge order which stated that she did not have the required actual teaching experience as stated under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations of 2018.
During her time of service as National Service Scheme (NSS) Coordinator, the Director of Student Services (DSS) at Kannur University or her efforts towards her research would result in her progress and growth as a good teacher, "but that by itself would not be sufficient in the absence of requisite experience in teaching", said the single judge.
What had happened?
The setting aside of the single judge order by the division bench must come as a relief to Priya Varghese whose appointment proposal had stirred a political controversy. This was because though she had a low score when it comes to research, her interview round score was the highest and she was announced as leading the list when it comes to the selection process.
Arif Mohammed Khan, the Governor of Kerala who is also the Chancellor of all state universities, had stayed her appointment. He also claimed that the move to appoint her by Kannur University was "political".
