Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 4 (IANS): Five days after the Supreme Court cancelled the reappointment of Kannur Vice-Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran, Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, seeking the removal of State Higher Education Minister R. Bindhu.

In his letter to CM Vijayan, Satheesan points out that it was the apex court which cited the role of Bindhu in the appointment and hence she should be removed.

“She has violated her oath and has acted in a partisan manner, when the rules are very clear that in the appointment of the vice-chancellor, there is no role for the pro-chancellor (Higher Education Minister) but she did intervene, hence she has to be ousted,” said Satheesan.

Ravindran was reappointed in November 2021 following which two Kannur University officials first approached the High Court, which upheld the reappointment. The petitioners then moved the apex court.

The apex court judgment slammed the way the appointing authority (Chancellor, who is also the Governor of the state Arif Mohammed Khan) came under duress from outside.

Incidentally, Khan had openly admitted that CM Vijayan had requested him to reappoint Ravindran as it's his (Vijayan) home state and he was forced to do the same.

Bindhu, according to Khan, had then pointed out that he got her letter asking for the reappointment of Ravindran.

Ravindran's reappointment got huge media attention as the wife of CM Vijayan's private secretary and former Rajya Sabha member K.K. Ragesh was ranked first in a teaching job at the Kannur University, despite not having the desired qualifications.