On Tuesday, the Kannur University syndicate gave the scrutiny committee the go-ahead to reconsider Priya Varghese’s application for the position of Associate Professor in the university’s Malayalam department. She is the wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s secretary, K.K. Ragesh.
Varghese’s appointment was approved by the syndicate early this year, but it ran into trouble when the second-ranked candidate went to the high court, even though the chancellor and Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had earlier cancelled the appointment because she lacked the necessary qualifications. This nomination had sparked a significant uproar in the state, and with Khan adopting a hard stance, his relationship with Vijayan has soured as each has seized every chance to criticise the other.
The high court found that Varghese did not meet the requirements to be considered for the position after reviewing the petition of the second-place contender. The inspection committee, according to the court, was not able to recognise that she lacked the necessary credentials. The court cannot ignore the fact that all UGC regulations were broken. The rank list was requested to be reviewed and updated by Kannur University.
Former CPI-M member Ragesh, who is from Kannur, served in the Rajya Sabha. Varghese had the highest possible score in the personal interview—32 out of 50—whereas Jacob Skariah, who was rated second, received a score of 30, but her research score was only 156, whereas Jacob received a score of 651. This information was previously made available through an RTI request. But after the personal interview, she was given the top spot.
In addition, the court found that she lacked the required teaching experience and that all of Varghese’s and Kannur University’s arguments were unsupportable because even the UGC had made it plain that she lacked the required experience.
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