In a major setback to the Kerala government, the Supreme Court on Thursday upheld its decision to reappoint Gopinath Ravindran as the Vice Chancellor of Kannur University following his retirement, sharply criticizing the “unwarranted intervention” by the state government in the matter.
A bench of Chief Justice DY Chandrachud along with Justices JB Pardiwala and Manoj Misra found flaws in the order of the Chancellor and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan reappointing Ravindran to the post. The judgments of the single and division bench of the Kerala High Court upholding the reappointment were set aside.
The governor, as the ex-officio chancellor of universities in the state, acts independently of the council of ministers in making decisions on all university matters.
“We have concluded that although the notification reappointing Respondent number 4 (Ravindran) to the post of vice chancellor was issued by the Chancellor (the governor), the decision to reappoint was influenced by extraneous considerations or, to put it differently, by the unwarranted intervention of the state government,” the bench stated.
“The impugned judgment and the order passed by the high court dated 23 February 2022, are hereby set aside, and as a consequence, the notification dated 23 November 2021, reappointing Respondent number 4 (Ravindran) as the vice chancellor of Kannur University is hereby set aside,” the apex court declared.
Pronouncing the judgment, Justice Pardiwala stated that the top court addressed various questions, including whether reappointment is permissible when the tenure is fixed.
“Our final conclusion is that it is now well-settled that the writ of quo warranto (by what authority) lies if any appointment to a public office is made in breach of the statute or the rules,” the judgment said.
In this particular case, the bench is not concerned with the suitability of Ravindran, it said.
“The suitability of a candidate for appointment to a post is to be judged by the appointing authority and not by the court unless the appointment is contrary to the statutory rules/provisions,” the judgment said.
The bench emphasized that it is the chancellor who has been conferred with competence under the law to appoint or reappoint the vice chancellor.
“No other person, even the pro-chancellor or any superior authority, can interfere with the functioning of the statutory authority,” it held.
On 23 February last year, a division bench of the Kerala High Court dismissed an appeal against a single judge order upholding the reappointment of Ravindran as vice chancellor. It was done in accordance with the law, and he was not “an usurper to the post,” it added.
The plea sought the quashing of the reappointment on the ground that a person can hold the office of vice chancellor only till the age of 60, and Ravindran, born on 19 December 1960, was overage at the time of his second appointment.
