The Kerala High Court in the case Dr Rejil T V The Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University observed and has issued the notice wherein the writ plea is moved questioning the qualifications of IAS officer Dr B Ashok who was being appointed as the Vice Chancellor of Kerala Agricultural University, earlier this year.
In the present case, the petition is moved by the member of the General Council of the University, wherein it is stated that Dr Ashok does not possess the requisite qualifications which is prescribed by the UGC for holding the post of Vice Chancellor.
Therefore, the Additional Production Controller was given full additional charge as the University’s VC with effect from 01.03.2023 at the directions of Chancellor, Governor Arif Khan.
The bench headed by Justice T R Ravi in the case observed and has issued the notice to Khan, Pro-Chancellor and Minister of Agriculture P. Prasad, the Registrar of the Kerala Agricultural University, and the Principal Secretary to the State’s Agricultural and the Farmers Welfare Department.
The Kerala High Court in the case observed and has also stayed the selection procedure to the posts of Asst. Professor vide a notification issued by the Registrar back in the year 2020, beingmarked as Ext P9 Notification. The same being after it has been contended by the petitioner in the plea that the Vice Chancellor has a vital role in the selection and appointment of Assistant Professors to the University but Dr. Ashok, who is only a bureaucrat, cannot claim to be an academician nor has he any expertise in the selection procedure.
The plea moved stated that the interview letters are being issued to candidates without conducting any written examination for assessing the domain or subject knowledge of the candidates applied to the post of direct recruitment of Assistant Professors. Thus, the proposed selection to the post of Assistant Professors through interview alone, is ex facie illegal, wherein it defeated the transparent and foolproof nature of selection process. Advocate N Raghuraj, Advocate Sayujya and Advocate Vivek Menon moved the present plea.
