WON’T CHALLENGE HC JUDGMENT ON VARGHESE POSTING, SAYS KANNUR VC

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after the Kerala high court ruled that Priya Varghese, wife of chief minister Pinarayan Vijayan’s private secretary K K Ragesh, was not qualified to be an associate professor at Kannur University, the varsity on Friday said it will not go for an appeal but insisted all procedures mandated by the University Grants Commission (UGC) were met during her appointment.

Talking to reporters in Kannur (north Kerala), vice-chancellor (VC) Gopinath Raveendran said Priya’s application was vetted carefully and legal opinion was also sought before her appointment.

The varsity had also written to the UGC for a clarification on her qualification but did not get any response, he said. “We had sought a clarification from the UGC... But we failed to get any reply from the apex body,” he said. HT reached out to UGC secretary Rajnish Jain for a response but did not get one.

Priya’s appointment was a major bone of contention between the state government and governor. On August 17, the governor, as chancellor, stayed her post, further deepening differences with the government.