THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Save University campaign committee beseeched the Governor to cancel accused K Vidya’s dubious Ph.D. seat at Kalady University.

According to the complainants, Vidya got the seat by toppling the SC/ST reservations. The Ph.D. regulation has made it a norm to have one guide in the selection committee along with two other experts from any other subjects. However, for Vidya, the rules were compromised with the sly helping hand from officials in the university.

The committee formed to select Vidya had many known faces; it included CPM sympathizer Sunil P Ilayidam, Malayalam university VC L Sushma and Lissy Mathew, infamous for being a crucial part in selecting CPM leader K K Ragesh’s wife as a lecturer, which was later annulled by Governor.

A total of 10 seats were open for Ph.D. at Kalady University. Vidya was not included in the initial list so the campaign committee requested the VC to include five more seats for research students. The last seat in the extended list was reserved for a student from SC/ST reservation. However, overturning the norms, the officials' curry favored the SFI leader with a Ph.D. seat unwary of the incoming outcry.