The Supreme Court on Monday issued notice on the appeal filed by the University Grants Commission (UGC) against the order of the Kerala High Court that allowed the appointment of Priya Varghese as Associate Professor at Kannur University, treating the period spent by her to pursue her PhD to be counted as teaching experience. Priya Varghese is the wife of K K Ragesh, private secretary to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

The special leave petition filed by the UGC was before a division bench of Justice J K Maheshwari and Justice K V Viswanathan.

The UGC in its appeal before the Apex Court has contended that the High Court erred in treating the period spent by her to pursue her PhD as teaching experience.

In June 2023, in an appeal by Priya Varghese, a division bench of Justice A K Jayasankaran Nambiar and Justice Mohammed Nias C P had set aside the order of the single bench and held that the period spent by Priya Varghese on pursuing her PhD degree under the Faculty Development Programme could not be excluded while considering the period of teaching experience.

During the hearing, Justice J K Maheshwari orally remarked that ‘We are making it very clear, to some extent High Court is wrong.’

The Division Bench had interpreted Regulation 3.11 of the 2018 UGC regulations to hold that candidates who are not at faculty members will be excluded from teaching experience but if the research degree is pursued by regular faculty members simultaneous with the teaching assignment, then the period will be counted as teaching experience.

However, the UGC says that it is very clear from this provision that "the time taken to acquire PhD degree will not be counted as research/teaching experience except if it is done simultaneously with teaching assignment without taking any leave".

It is the UGC’s contention that the period undergone by Varghese in obtaining her PhD degree cannot be treated as teaching or research experience, and hence she does not fulfil the requirement of 8 years of teaching experience required to be eligible for the post. Varghese while pursuing her PhD was not burdened with any teaching assignment and was a full time Research Scholar, UGC’s plea states.

Meanwhile, the UGC in its appeal has argued that the High Court failed to appreciate that the Kannur University Act prescribes that the suits against the University are to be instituted in the name of the Registrar. It also contends that the provisional Rank List under challenge in the writ, was issued by the Registrar of the University, who was a party to the petition.

The UGC in its appeal has also argued that the High Court erred in holding that the period spent by Varghese on deputation as Director of Student Services/Programme Coordinator of NSS was to be treated as teaching experience by the university.

The Division bench had observed that a finding that such experience is not teaching experience, would have disastrous consequences for the academic community teachers would be unwilling to go on deputation to such posts fearing that they would lose out on career progression.

It has also been contended that when the UGC, being author of the Regulation has taken a stand on the matter, then Court cannot go beyond it.

In November 2022, a Single Bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran had held that Priya Varghese did not possess the requisite teaching experience, to be appointed as Associate Professor at the Department of Malayalam at Kannur University and directed the competent authority of the University to reconsider her credentials and decide whether she should continue on the Rank List.

Dr Joseph Skariah, who was ranked after Varghese in the Rank List, had filed the writ petition challenging the inclusion of Varghese in the List stating that she was not qualified for the post of Associate Professor as she did not have the prescribed 8 years of teaching experience prescribed.

(With inputs from Livelaw)