Kerala High Court on Monday quashed the appointment of the vice-chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, K. Riji John, citing violation of University Grants Commission norms that it said overrode any related state laws.

The state’s Left government sidestepped reporters’ questions on whether the judgment was a setback in its tussle with governor Arif Mohammed Khan over the appointment of several VCs, including John, and hinted at moving the Supreme Court.

The search-cum-selection panel had recommended John alone for the post although UGC norms make it mandatory to shortlist at least three candidates.

John was appointed VC in January 2021. After academics K.K. Vijayan and G. Sadasivan Nair, who were among the applicants for the post, separately petitioned the high court, the government argued the appointment had been made according to the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Science Act, 2010, under which the state university had been established.

“...Provisions of the UGC Regulations, 2018, in the matter of appointment of vice-chancellors and the constitution of the search-cum-selection committee have supremacy and paramountcy over the provisions of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Science Act, 2010,” the division bench of Chief Justice S. Manikumar and Justice Shaji P. Chaly ruled.

“We have no hesitation to hold that the selection of Dr K. Riji John as the vice-chancellor... overlooking the UGC Regulations, 2018, cannot be sustained under law. We are also of the view that the search-cum-selection committee constituted is also in violation of the UGC Regulations, 2018.”

The panel included government officials, which the UGC norms do not allow. Senior counsel George Poonthottam, who appeared for K.K. Vijayan, told The Telegraph that the court had rejected a plea from John for a 10-day interim stay on the judgment so he could challenge it in the Supreme Court.

Last month, the Supreme Court had annulled the appointment of M.S. Rajasree as vice-chancellor of the state-run A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University, ruling it violated UGC Regulations.

Governor Khan, the chancellor of state universities, had then cited the apex court order to ask the vice-chancellors of 11 universities — including John — to step down, suggesting their appointments were irregular too.

The vice-chancellors petitioned the high court, which has allowed them to stay on until the governor decides on their replies to showcause notices he had sent them subsequently.

Higher education minister R. Bindu ducked questions on whether the verdict was a setback.

“I need to study the matter before I make a statement. That apart, it is a university under the fisheries department and not the higher education department,” she said.

The minister for local self-government and excise, M.B. Rajesh, said the judgment was based on a “technical question” of whether “the UGC regulations or the state law” should apply. “It’s a matter that will come before the Supreme Court.”