Kochi, Aug 22 (PTI) The Kerala High Court on Monday stayed the recent controversial appointment of a Malayalam associate professor in Kannur University.

Justice Devan Ramachandran impleaded the University Grants Commission (UGC) on a plea filed against the appointment and sought reply from the Governor as the Chancellor of universities in the state, the government, Kannur University vice chancellor and others.

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The plea against appointment of Priya Varghese, the wife of K K Ragesh who is the Chief Minister's secretary, in the Malayalam department of Kannur varsity was filed by one Joseph Skaria who came second to Varghese in the university mark list.

Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, in his capacity as Chancellor of universities in the state, had on Wednesday stayed her appointment and alleged that Kannur University's move to appoint her was "political".

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In the plea, Skaria alleged that the appointment was not done following due procedure.

Varghese had been proposed to be appointed as an associate professor in the Malayalam Department by varsity, which triggered a huge political row as she had the lowest research score but the highest in the interview round and was declared first in the selection process.

Meanwhile, Higher Education Minister R Bindu had said that the state government was not involved in making appointments in the varsities and only the universities can do that and that too as per the law and the regulations regarding the same.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)