'No authority for syndicate to challenge Chancellor's order', says Kerala High Court

KOCHI: The High Court ruled that the university syndicate does not have the authority to question the orders of the governor, who is the chancellor. Justice A.A. Ziyad Rahman also ruled that the syndicate is obliged to implement the orders of the chancellor, who is the appellate authority in disciplinary proceedings. The court dismissed the petitions filed by syndicate member M.B. Faisal, among others, against the chancellor's order quashing the disciplinary action against an instrumentation engineer at Calicut University. The syndicate is obliged to follow the hierarchy and discipline in the institution. Therefore, questioning the decisions of a higher authority is not envisaged in the law. The judgment also states that the court can be approached only if the chancellor's order is completely illegal or biased.

The engineer was accused of causing a loss of Rs 27.5 lakh by committing irregularities in the tender process for installing a local area network (LAN) in the university offices. The syndicate decided to demote him as a junior engineer for five years and recover the amount. However, on appeal, the Chancellor cancelled this action and ordered its reversal. Meanwhile, the court directed the state government and the university to intensify the vigilance investigation into the financial loss suffered by the university, identify the culprits and recover the amount.