The Supreme Court of India has issued notice on the petition filed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) challenging the order of the Kerala High Court that allowed the appointment of Priya Varghese as an Associate Professor at Kannur University. The High Court had treated the period spent by Priya Varghese pursuing her PhD as teaching experience, thereby qualifying her for the position.
Priya Varghese is the wife of K.K. Ragesh, who serves as the private secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan of Kerala. The special leave petition filed by the UGC was heard before a division bench comprising Justice J K Maheshwari and Justice K V Viswanathan.
During the hearing, Additional Solicitor General K M Nataraj, appearing for the UGC, sought to keep the Kerala High Court's order in abeyance. However, Priya Varghese's counsel, Advocates Biju P Raman and Subhash Chandran KR requested the court to maintain the status quo, as she has already been appointed. The Supreme Court issued notice and clarified that the appointment made pursuant to the contested order would be subject to the final outcome of the appeal.
Justice J. K. Maheshwari made an oral remark during the hearing, stating, "We are making it very clear, to some extent High Court is wrong."
The case had its roots in November 2022 when a Single Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran of the Kerala High Court held that Priya Varghese did not possess the required teaching experience for the position of Associate Professor at the Department of Malayalam at Kannur University. The court directed the university's competent authority to reconsider her credentials and decide whether she should continue on the Rank List. Dr. Joseph Skariah, who ranked after Varghese in the Rank List, had filed a writ petition challenging her inclusion, asserting that she did not meet the prescribed 8 years of teaching experience.
However, in June 2023, an appeal by Priya Varghese was successful before a division bench of Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Mohammed Nias C P. The bench set aside the Single Bench's order and ruled that the period spent pursuing her Ph.D. degree under the Faculty Development Programme should be counted as teaching experience.
The High Court, referring to Regulation 3.11 of the UGC Regulations, 2018, held that if the research degree is pursued by regular faculty members simultaneously with their teaching assignment, then the period spent on the Ph.D. will be counted as teaching experience. The court also considered the period spent by Varghese on deputation as Director of Student Services/National Service Scheme (NSS) as teaching experience.
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