90% attendance in college and 96% attendance at office simultaneously: Malabar Devaswom Commissioner's LLB degree in controversy

KOZHIKODE: Malabar Devaswom Board Commissioner TC Biju from Thrissur is in a controversy over the LLB degree he obtained without the board's permission while in service. He obtained his LLB degree, attending the evening batch at the CUSAT campus in Kochi while he was an auditing inspector at the Malabar Devaswom Board's Kozhikode office. Attendance is mandatory for the evening course at CUSAT. He passed the three-year course with 90 percent attendance, but he also maintained 96 percent attendance at the Devaswom office simultaneously.

The RTI document had come out that Biju did not have permission from the Devaswom Board to study LLB. The RTI application was filed by the Board's Thalassery Senior Superintendent T.S. Suresh. The reason for Biju getting promotion from the Audit Inspector is his LLB degree. An LLB degree is mandatory even to become a Deputy Commissioner. Biju became the Commissioner on February 1 this year.

There are political reasons behind the allegations. The cases were dismissed by the High Court. I don't think it is wrong to take a degree under the Distance Education Act

-O.K. Vasu,

Malabar Devaswom

Board President

I was working on deputation in Thiruvananthapuram during the same period and completed my LLB degree as an evening course, but Biju was appointed by bypassing that

- T.S. Suresh,

Senior Superintendent