Kerala HC Accepts Plea on Re-appointment of Kannur VC

KOCHI:
A division bench of the Kerala High Court on Friday accepted a petition questioning the re-appointment of Kannur Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran.

The court directed that notices to be sent to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan as he is the chancellor and the state and the Kannur University. It said notice need not be send to Ravindran and when the case gets heard on January 12, his counsel can put forward his arguments.

On Wednesday, 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 Vijayan, who has been under severe attack from several quarters, including Khan, who after signing the re-appointment order, had backtracked, saying that his “hands were tied and now he regrets the decision”. He even went public stating that he (Khan) no longer desires to continue as the Chancellor.

The Congress and the BJP have demanded the resignation of State Higher Education Minister R. Bindhu after her two letters to Khan seeking re-appointment of Ravindran as Chancellor, surfaced.

As soon as the Single bench verdict came, it was celebrations in the Vijayan camp and Bindhu, who was ducking the media for long, said she has done everything within the rules and that she is not duty-bound to convince the media.