A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday, December 17, accepted a petition questioning the re-appointment of Kannur Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran. The court directed that notices must be sent to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, as he is the Chancellor of the state and the Kannur University. The court said notice need not be sent to Gopinath Ravindran, who is to be reappointed as the Vice Chancellor of the university, and when the case gets heard on January 12, his counsel can put forward his arguments.
On Wednesday, December 15, a single bench of the court dismissed the same plea filed by Kannur University senate member K Premachandran and another person, Shino Jose. This had come as a relief for Kerala Chief Minister Pinnarayi Vijayan, who has been under severe attack from several quarters, including the Governor, who after signing the re-appointment order had backtracked, saying that his "hands were tied and now he regrets the decision". Governor Arif Khan even went public stating that he no longer desires to continue as the Chancellor.
The Congress and the BJP have demanded the resignation of State Higher Education Minister R Bindhu over the matter, after her purported letters to the Governor allegedly seeking the re-appointment of Ravindran as Chancellor, surfaced. Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged that she had no authority to provide a recommendation and claimed that this was a case of corruption and nepotism.
Chennithala had further stated that Bindu had violated the oath of office and that she had “lost the moral right” to continue as minister. He had also stated that she should resign from her post.
With IANS inputs