Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Wednesday upheld the re-appointment of Dr Gopinath Raveendran as the vice-chancellor of Kannur varsity. The re-appointment was upheld by a division bench of the high court.
Earlier, the single bench had also approved the appointment. An appeal against the order has now been rejected by a division bench comprising Chief Justice S Manikumar.
The most important legal issue the court considered was the one related to the first appointment and re-appointment of a person to the post of vice-chancellor. Matters including age limit and the recommendations of the search committee must be considered during the first appointment. The petitioner claimed that the same criteria should be followed while considering the re-appointment. The High Court Division Bench rejected this view of the petitioner.
The division bench said that appointment was legally valid. The counsel of the governor, who is the chancellor of the university, told the court that the appointment was based on legal advice given by the Advocate General and the government.