Kochi: Dealing a major blow to the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government in the state, a division bench of the Kerala High Court has quashed the disciplinary action initiated by it against Dr Ciza Thomas. Thomas was served a show-cause notice for taking over the temporary charge of vice-chancellor of A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University (formerly Kerala Technological University - KTU) based on an order of the Governor - the Chancellor, and without obtaining the permission of the government.
Striking down the disciplinary action, the division bench of Justices Muhammad Mushtaq and Sobha Annamma Eapen observed that the show-cause notice had no legal standing. The court pointed out that Thomas had neither applied for the post of the Vice-Chancellor nor occupied the position as per her own wish. She became the Vice-Chancellor temporarily based on a directive of the Governor which was issued according to the rules.
Earlier, Thomas had approached the Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) after receiving the show-cause notice. However, KAT declined to intervene in the matter. Thomas subsequently moved to the High Court, which issued the latest order.
Meanwhile, the division bench also said that the appointment of Thomas as vice-chancellor was cleared by the court during a previous hearing while hearing an appeal in this regard by the state government. The court also rejected the argument of the state government that disciplinary action was launched against Thomas not because it found the appointment illegal but owing to the alleged insubordination displayed by her.
Thomas had been posted temporarily as vice-chancellor after the Supreme Court cancelled the appointment of Dr M S Rajasree, the then vice-chancellor. Thomas was given the post by the governor, who had rejected all the names suggested by the government.
Later, the Principal Secretary of the Higher Education Department issued a notice to Thomas, alleging that she had violated Rule 48 of the code of conduct for government employees. She was also served with a memo on the day of her retirement on March 31.
