Kerala: Supreme Court Allows Dismissed Vice-Chancellor Riji John’s Plea Challenging High Court Order

A Supreme Court bench has agreed to hear a plea by Riji John, the former vice-chancellor (VC) of Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), whose appointment was quashed by the Kerala High Court recently.

The bench comprises Chief Justice of India D Y Chandrachud and Justice Hima Kohli.

John had challenged the High Court order saying that as KUFOS was an ‘agricultural university’, the University Grants Commission (UGC) guidelines on appointing VCs did not apply to his case.

He added that the appointment of VCs to agricultural universities was in the state’s domain.

The Kerala government, represented by former attorney general of India, K K Venugopal, supported John’s plea.

Appearing for John, advocate Jaideep Gupta asked for a stay order in the case saying that the functioning of the university would be affected without a VC. However, the Supreme Court refused to grant a stay order and asked the Governor to appoint an acting VC.

The Kerala High Court had held John’s appointment to be invalid because his name was recommended from a single-name panel and not from a panel of names as stated by the UGC guidelines.

Next hearing in the case will be after three weeks.

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