Approvals after HC verdict, says Kerala University VC
In another verdict, the HC has also directed making reservation to SC-ST candidates compulsory in aided colleges.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala University Vice-Chancellor P.K. Radhakrishnan has clarified that approval was not being given for the appointment of aided college teachers due to a case in the High Court. The university had received a legal opinion against sanctioning the posts now.
Pro-CPM All-Kerala Private College Teachers’ Association (AKPCTA) has been agitating against the vice-chancellor for not approving the appointments made to teaching posts in the last many years.
The VC said in a statement that the UGC had issued a directive on September 18, 2010 making the norms for teacher appointment applicable to all universities and colleges across the country.
Following this, the state government issued an order in December 2010 making the directive applicable with retrospective effect from September 18, 2010. After consultations at various levels, the university made it applicable to affiliated colleges on November 23, 2013. The university took a liberal attitude to many provisions in the UGC circular even afterwards, Mr Radhakrishnan said.
However, the Supreme Court in a verdict on July 15, 2015 and the High Court verdict on February 22, 2016 made it clear that such liberal decisions were not valid. The High Court also said that the appointment of a teacher made to Malayalam department of the university on November 5, 2015 was against the UGC directive in 2010. Though the teacher submitted a revision petition, it was dismissed. However, the Supreme Court has given a stay in the case.
The government and the university which became party to the case have taken the stand that all appointments made before February 22, 2016 as per the norms prior to UGC directive of 2010 should be considered as valid.
In another verdict, the HC has also directed making reservation to SC-ST candidates compulsory in aided colleges. The legal opinion was that the sanction to aided teacher appointments should be deferred till the courts gave a final verdict on the various appeals, the VC said.