Does Kannur University’s new notification for teaching positions contradict its own affidavit submitted to the Supreme Court in defence of Priya Varghese’s appointment as an associate professor? Varghese is the wife of Kerala Chief Minister’s private secretary, K.K. Ragesh. This question is gaining traction as Kannur University’s latest recruitment notification for professors, associate professors, and assistant professors states that the time taken by candidates to acquire an MPhil and/or PhD degree cannot be counted as teaching or research experience for appointment to the teaching positions. The university’s new notification dated October 19, 2024 came to the public notice recently.
In June 2023, a division bench of the Kerala High Court set aside a single bench’s order nullifying Varghese’s appointment, ruling that her selection was valid. Following this verdict, the case reached the Supreme Court. In July 2023, while issuing a notice in the special leave petition filed by the UGC against the high court’s ruling, the apex court observed that the "Kerala High Court's interpretation was wrong to some extent," though it did not stay the order.
Interestingly, the university’s 2021 notification—the basis on which Varghese applied for the associate professor post—contained the same clause stating that the time taken for an MPhil or PhD cannot be considered relevant teaching experience for the position.
“This clause appears in both the 2021 and the current notifications because it is a UGC regulation, and the university cannot issue a notification that contradicts it,” says Kannur University senate member Shino P Jose. “However, when the university submitted an affidavit in the high court, they twisted the argument by stating that Varghese was on a Faculty Development Programme (FDP) without mentioning that she was pursuing a PhD. But for those in service, a full-time PhD can only be pursued through FDP; otherwise, they have to sacrifice their salary to pursue a PhD. The university cleverly concealed this detail, leading to a favorable high court verdict. The same argument was also submitted in the Supreme Court affidavit.”
The affidavit submitted by the university to the apex court states that the period Varghese spent pursuing her PhD under the FDP "cannot be excluded while reckoning her teaching/research experience in the post of Assistant Professor for appointment as an Associate Professor."
Jose questioned why, despite securing a favorable high court verdict, the university did not explicitly state in its latest notification that FDP would be counted as teaching experience. “They could have included a clause specifying that a full-time PhD wouldn’t be counted under UGC regulations, but FDP would be, since they had a favorable verdict,” he says.
“But they didn’t include such a clause. They couldn’t, because the UGC itself has filed an affidavit stating that FDP cannot be counted as teaching experience. Aware of this risk, the university deliberately omitted it from the notification,” he added.
He pointed out that the latest notification contradicts the university's own affidavit submitted in the Supreme Court, adding that they applied one rule to Varghese to defend their position in court while taking an entirely different stance in their new notification.
The case will once again come before the Supreme Court on February 11.