KOCHI/ KANNUR: The High Court on Friday directed that incumbent PT Raveendran be allowed to continue as Pro-Vice-Chancellor (PVC) of Kannur University for two weeks. The court will now take up the matter on August 6.
It is on a petition from P T Raveendran, challenging Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Raveendran’s decision to remove him from the post, that the Court issued the order. The Vice-Chancellor issued the order directing the Registrar to remove P T Raveendran on the grounds he cannot continue since he had retired as professor. And the VC’s order was issued via email on Thursday.
According to Raveendran, the move to divest him of the charge was done in haste without the syndicate’s approval. The Vice-Chancellor has no authority to issue an order to the Registrar since the syndicate is the appointing authority. Therefore, the steps taken by the Vice-Chancellor are illegal.
The VC dismissed the PVC on the grounds that he has no right to continue in office as per the UGC norms. It is said Gopinath Raveendran had taken this decision in light of P T Raveendran filing a petition against him and the Syndicate for trying to oust him from the post .
As per the UGC norms of 2010, the PVC should be a professor in the university. But, P T Raveendran had retired on April 30 this year. But the Syndicate, interpreting this as the PVC’s tenure automatically ending when the tenure of VC runs out, adopted a stand in the PVC’s favour. The university standing counsel and Higher Education Department Secretary had also given the nod for P T Raveendran’s continuation as PVC.However VC took the stand that it is appropriate that the PVC must indeed step down from the post.
Court decision
The HC on Friday directed that incumbent P T Raveendran be allowed to continue as Pro-Vice- Chancellor (PVC) of Kannur University for two weeks
The court will now take up the matter on August 6