'Officials should not be made scapegoats in issue between government and Governor'; SC dismisses petition against Ciza Thomas 

NEW DELHI: The state government on Tuesday received a setback in the appointment of the Vice Chancellor of the Kerala Technological University (KTU) as the Supreme Court dismissed its plea against former VC Dr Ciza Thomas. The apex court opined that officials should not be made scapegoats in the issue between the Governor and the government.

The apex court dismissed the petition without hearing the detailed arguments in the case. Earlier, the Kerala High Court had quashed the action against Ciza Thomas. Following this, the government approached the Supreme Court. The Governor appointed Ciza Thomas as the interim VC as per university-UGC rules after the Supreme Court set aside the appointment of former vice-chancellor Rajashree.

When the government approached the High Court against this, the court ruled that Ciza's appointment was legal. Later, the government issued a show cause notice to Ciza alleging that she had taken up the post of VC without the permission of the government. Although Ciza Thomas approached the Administrative Tribunal against the government's notice against her, it ordered that the punishment proceedings could continue.

Ciza then approached the High Court against the Administrative Tribunal's order. The High Court Division Bench, which considered the plea, ordered that Ciza was appointed as per University-UGC rules and the show cause notice issued against her by the government will not legally stand. The government approached the Supreme Court against this order of the High Court.