The Kerala Administrative Tribunal (KAT) has ordered the State government to appoint Principals to posts lying vacant in arts and science colleges from the initial selection list that had been prepared by the Directorate of Collegiate Education for the purpose.
A tribunal bench comprising judicial member P.V. Asha and administrative member P.K. Kesavan, which issued the interim order on a petition submitted by seven teachers on Monday, barred the government from proceeding with the second selection list that was allegedly prepared to include ineligible applicants who were excluded from the first list.
The selection committee that was initially formed by the Higher Education department to fill 66 vacant Principals’ posts had found 43 out of 110 applicants to be eligible for appointment. As the government kept the process on hold, five of these eligible applicants retired from service.
The tribunal also ordered that the posts, which remain vacant after the appointments are made from the first selection list, should be done through a fresh selection process after inviting applications from all qualified candidates.
