UGC to move Supreme Court against appointment of Kerala CM’s secretary’s wife to Kannur University

Thiruvananthapuram (IANS). The UGC is all set to approach the Supreme Court against the Kerala High Court for upholding the appointment of Priya Varghese, wife of KK Ragesh, secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, as an associate professor at Kannur University.

The division bench’s verdict came last month after it overturned the single judge’s decision. In this, the second place candidate was asked to re-examine the objection raised against the appointment.

After receiving the favorable verdict, Varghese immediately filed a caveat petition in the Supreme Court. Now UGC has made it clear that it will approach the apex court.

Last November, a single bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran ruled that Varghese lacked the qualifications prescribed by the UGC and his appointment should be re-examined. But last week, the bench set aside the judgment and approved his appointment.

The CPI(M) leadership has criticized those opposing the appointment. Former CPI(M) Rajya Sabha member Ragesh hails from Kannur and is considered a close aide of Vijayan.

The issue came to the fore last year when an RTI query revealed that Varghese got the maximum marks (32 out of 50) in the personal interview, while Jacob Scariah, the second-placed candidate, got 30 marks. Varghese’s research score was a mere 156, while the candidate who stood second secured 651 marks. But on the basis of personal interview Varghese was given first position.