Kerala High Court Dismisses KTU Vice Chancellor's Appeal Against Refusal Of Interim Relief In Plea To Resolve 'Administrative Stalemate'
The Kerala High Court has dismissed a writ appeal filed by Dr. Sivaprasad, Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU), challenging the interim order dated August 19, by which a single judge had declined to grant interim relief in his writ petition to resolve the 'administrative stalemate' in the University..The division bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and...
The Kerala High Court has dismissed a writ appeal filed by Dr. Sivaprasad, Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU), challenging the interim order dated August 19, by which a single judge had declined to grant interim relief in his writ petition to resolve the 'administrative stalemate' in the University..
The division bench comprising Justice Anil K Narendran and Justice Muralee Krishnan S dismissed the appeal and held that the interim relief sought in the writ petition and the main relief were essentially the same. It further observed that the single judge's reasoning was sound and that no grounds for interference were made out.
The Vice-Chancellor had originally approached the High Court seeking directions to ensure the participation of senior government officials in the 66th Syndicate meeting of the University, arguing that their repeated absence had led to a financial and administrative deadlock. The single judge, however, declined the interim relief, holding that the Syndicate meeting date had already lapsed and that the Supreme Court had, on August 18, appointed a former apex court judge as Chairperson of the Search-cum-Selection Committee to appoint a new Vice-Chancellor.
In the writ appeal, senior counsel for the VC highlighted the difficulties faced by the University, including the non-payment of salaries and pensions, and urged the Bench to intervene.
The State Attorney, representing the government, countered that the issue was already under the scrutiny of the Supreme Court, and pointed to the apex court's observations in its August 18 order which had appointed a former Supreme Court judge as Chairperson of the Search-cum-Selection Committee to appoint the next Vice-Chancellor of the University.
The Court, however, clarified that the dismissal was without prejudice to the legal and factual contentions raised by both parties, leaving open the issues for consideration in the pending writ petition.
Case Title - Dr. Sivaprasad v State of Kerala
Citation - 2025 LiveLaw (Ker) 508
Case No - WA 2051/ 2025
Counsel for the Petitioner - George Poonthottam (Sr.), Nisha George, A L Navaneeth Krishnan, Kavya Varma M M
Counsel for the Respondent - P Sreekumar (Sr.), S Prasanth, K R Ganesh