VC says Kerala varsity registrar’s suspension stands, syndicate claims it was revoked

Thiruvananthapuram: A fresh controversy has erupted at Kerala University over the suspension of Registrar Dr KS Anilkumar, with acting Vice-Chancellor Dr Ciza Thomas and the university syndicate publicly contradicting each other. While the syndicate claimed on Sunday that it revoked the suspension, Dr Thomas insisted that the action still stands.

In its emergency meeting held today, the syndicate declared the suspension order cancelled and decided to inform the Kerala High Court accordingly. It also constituted a three-member commission comprising Dr Shiju Khan, G. Muralidharan and Dr Nazeeb to investigate the matter. The university's standing counsel has been instructed to notify the court of these developments.

VC contests legitimacy of decision

However, acting VC Dr Ciza Thomas remarked that the decision to revoke the suspension is legally invalid. She pointed out that the issue was not listed on the agenda and that the decision was taken after she had left the meeting. According to her, the suspension remains in force. She has appointed senior High Court lawyer P. Sreekumar to represent her before the court.

Reason behind row

The suspension happened over a university event that went ahead despite being officially called off. On June 25, Anil Kumar had cancelled permission granted to the Sree Padmanabha Seva Samithi for the event. He cited the organisers’ plan to display a portrait of Bharat Mata holding a saffron flag on stage as the reason for revoking permission.