KUFOS governing council discusses legal steps in vice-chancellor row

KOCHI: The governing council of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) on Saturday discussed legal steps against the backdrop of the Kerala High Court revoking the appointment of K Riji John as vice-chancellor (VC). Riji has approached the Supreme Court challenging the Kerala High Court order and the case is scheduled to come up for hearing on December 13.  “As the university does not have a standing counsel at the Supreme Court, the governing council decided to engage a lawyer as soon as possible,” said an official.

Secretaries of the departments of fisheries, general administration, finance and law, and directors of MPEDA, CIFT and CMFRI are members of the governing council. Though Riji John stepped down following the court order, the functioning of the university has not been affected as the governor has appointed dean Rosalind George as the vice-chancellor-in-charge. However, the biggest challenge for the University is to start classes at the newly sanctioned Fisheries College in Payyannur.

The college was sanctioned in June 2022 and the government granted permission to launch the Bachelor of Fisheries Sciences course this year itself.  The first batch has been allocated 40 seats and students selected through the NEET exam have started joining the course.