Lekshmi Nair's posting illegal: Johnson Abraham
His contention was that as per the Kerala University statute, the principal's posting should be approved by the university within three months.
Thiruvananthapuram: KPCC treasurer and Kerala University syndicate member Johnson Abraham submitted a letter to Kerala University Vice-Chancellor P.K. Radhakrishnan on Tuesday asking him to remove Kerala Law Academy Law College Principal Lakshmi Nair from the post. His contention was that as per the Kerala University statute, the principal’s posting should be approved by the university within three months. However, as per university records, it has not approved her appointment, he said.
However, university sources maintained that section 40 (a) (3) of the Kerala University statute which insisted that the management inform the university about the appointment of a principal within three months was applicable to only aided college teachers. Education Minister C. Raveendranath who studied the report of the syndicate sub-committee of the Kerala University asked the university to convene a meeting of the sub-committee at the earliest and take strong action against the college for not complying with the statute of the university.
A section in the university officials expressed doubts whether Vice-Principal Madhavan Potty who has been asked to take charge as principal was eligible for the post. The amendment 37 made to the Kerala University statute of 2005 had specified that the principal of the unaided colleges should be less than 65 years of age. Mr Potty had retired as the principal of Government Law College in 2005. The age of retirement of government employees then was 55 and Mr Potty is aged 67 now. Hence, he is not eligible to become principal, sources said.