Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) has directed the state government to complete the appointment of college principals by Thursday. While asking the government to finish with the appointments at the earliest, the tribunal declined to allot more time. Citing the fast approaching Puthuppally bypoll, following the demise of former CM Oommen Chandy, the Kerala government had sought more time for finishing the appointments.

Meanwhile, five principals in the PSC approved list have already retired. It should be noted that a total of 43 teachers were shortlisted in the final list. The state government had recently filed a renewal petition seeking two more weeks for getting done with the appointments. The government informed the tribunal of its difficulty in completing the appointments since a candidate in the appointment list belonged to Kottayam district, where election code of conduct prevailed at the moment. 

However, the tribunal reminded the government that the election code of conduct cannot stop the government from implementing the directives of the tribunal. Instead, the government was asked to finish off the procedures and submit the appointment letters in front of the tribunal by Thursday.

In an earlier sitting, the tribunal had directed the Kerala government to complete the appointments by August 17, which the state government failed to adhere to. Education minister R Bindu had even vowed to complete the appointments within the stipulated time, but the government failed to meet the deadline. 

The latest petition filed by the state government seeking more time for appointments was criticised as being a delay tactic. Seven candidates who were shortlisted in the appointment list filed a contempt of court petition against the government in the incident. However, this particular case was not considered by the bench on Monday.