The Kerala High Court on Thursday ordered a review of the chief minister's private secretary's wife's appointment as an associate professor at Kannur University, citing lack of eligibility.
The new development is yet another shot in the arm for Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, as he had raised the nepotism allegations concerning appointments in universities apart from the issue of selection of vice-chancellors.
In August, the governor stayed the appointment even as Kannur University VC Gopinath Ravindran said there were no irregularities.
The selection of Priya Varghese, wife of Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's private secretary and former MP K K Ragesh, was scrapped by the HC, citing that she did not meet the required eligibility for the post of associate professor in the Malayalam department.
The decision came over a petition filed by the second rank-holder in the selection list, Joseph Scaria.
The court pointed out that Priya did not have the prescribed teaching experience of eight years as her service as National Service Scheme coordinator, duration of research under the faculty development programme and service at the State Institute of Languages could not be considered as teaching experience.
The court directed the selection committee to review her eligibility and revise the rank list.
The court on Wednesday made harsh remarks regarding the teaching experience cited by Priya. The court stated that works like digging pits as part of NSS activities could not be considered teaching experience.
While Priya told reporters that further measures would be taken after consulting legal experts, Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu said that the government did not intervene in the matter.
The new developments come at a time when the governor-government rift is at its peak in Kerala, with the state government initiating legislation to remove the governor as chancellor of universities.