Kochi: The Kerala High Court has directed the registration of a suo motu case and ordered an investigation into the appointment of V.A. Arun Kumar, son of former Chief Minister V.S. Achuthanandan, as the temporary director of the state-run Institute of Human Resources Development (IHRD). A single-judge bench ruled that Arun Kumar’s qualifications must be examined and whether political influence enabled him to bypass eligibility requirements should be investigated.

Justice D.K. Singh noted that a thorough probe is needed to determine if Arun Kumar attained the post by using his father’s political stature. The matter must be probed to determine whether Arun Kumar’s appointment was politically motivated, the court maintained.

The directive came in response to a petition filed by Dr Vinu Thomas, former principal of Thrikkakara Model Engineering College and currently Dean at Kerala Technological University.

Concerns over eligibility

The court observed that the position of IHRD Director is on par with that of a university vice-chancellor. It questioned whether Arun Kumar held the necessary qualifications, pointing out that under the 2018 UGC guidelines, a minimum of seven years of teaching experience is mandatory. It further noted that his promotion from a clerical post to director appeared to be politically influenced. The court remarked that such a trajectory seemed highly irregular.

Previous challenge and acquittal

Arun Kumar’s appointment as Assistant Director in IHRD had been challenged earlier as well. He was appointed during the Nayanar government’s tenure. However, the Thiruvananthapuram Special Court acquitted him of all charges in that case. A Vigilance probe concluded that the appointment and promotion were done in accordance with norms, leading to the case’s closure. The Vigilance Court accepted the findings, effectively giving him a clean chit.