Kannur: Kannur University has added a curious chapter to its legal history - paying for legal battles technically waged against itself. The Kerala State Audit Department has stalled an expenditure of Rs 4 lakh, which the university spent as the legal fees of the then Vice-Chancellor Prof Gopinath Ravindran. In his personal capacity, he had taken the Chancellor (Governor Arif Mohammed Khan) and the university to the High Court of Kerala, challenging his own ouster in 2022.

Ironically, the university's own standing counsel, I V Pramod, who defended it in court, was paid just Rs 6,000, the latest audit report noted.

Notably, Prof Ravindran, first appointed as Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University in 2017, was reappointed in November 2021 as the state government’s sole choice for the post.

This was no run-of-the-mill case. It was part of an upheaval in Kerala’s higher education sector. On October 22, 2022, then-Chancellor Arif Mohammed Khan gave marching orders to the Vice-Chancellors of eight state-run universities, citing a Supreme Court judgment. A day earlier, a two-member bench of the apex court Justices M R Shah and C T Ravikumar quashed the appointment of Prof P S Sreejith as Vice-Chancellor, because the search-and-selection committee had violated UGC regulations by forwarding only his name instead of a list of three to five suitable candidates for the Chancellor’s consideration.

Chancellor Khan applied the same yardstick to all eight Vice-Chancellors, including Prof Ravindran, and declared they ceased to be in office after October 21, 2022. He directed them to resign by 11.30 am on October 24, 2022. A day later, he fired off show-cause notices, demanding they explain why they shouldn't be sacked from posts he had already declared vacant.

With their jobs on the line, all eight Vice-Chancellors, in their private capacities, approached the High Court on October 24, naming the Chancellor, the state government, and their respective universities as respondents.

Hearing all eight petitions the same day, High Court judge Devan Ramachandran called it a "rather unusual sight" before striking down the Chancellor’s demand for resignations.

In a meeting two months later, on December 20, 2022, the Kannur University Syndicate -- the highest executive body -- decided to foot the legal expenses of Prof Ravindran, who hired senior advocate Ranjith Thampan and advocate V M Krishnakumar.

As part of this, Adv Krishnakumar was paid Rs 4 lakh, the audit report noted, adding: The university, made a respondent in Ravindran’s case, ended up funding his legal fees while its own counsel got just Rs 6,000 — a contrast the audit report flagged as glaring.

The university did not respond to the objections raised by the Kerala State Audit Department. "Hence, the expense of Rs 4 lakh is being blocked," the report said.

The irony did not end there. Prof Ravindran was reappointed as Vice-Chancellor in November 2021 by setting aside Section 10(9) of the Kannur University Act that capped the upper age limit of the candidates for the VC's post at 60 years. Two teachers Dr Premachandran Keezhoth and Dr Shino P Jose challenged the reappointment on the age factor and that there was no search committee.

But the Supreme Court on November 30, 2023, quashed his reappointment, calling it the result of "unwarranted interference by the State Government".