Former Kannur University Vice -President (VC) Gopinath Ravendran returned 4 ₹ Lakh after the audit report revealed that he used the funds of the institution to file a legal case that challenges the abolition of his appointment.
The 2022-23 audit report has marked procedural violations in the allocation of funds and stated that the money was used without proper permission. The amount was spent on the case filed at the High Court in Kerala against the annulment of the appointment of Mr. Ravendran, who followed the decision of the Supreme Court on 21 October 2022. The APEX canceled the appointment because only one name was recommended for the VC.
The audit report criticized the transition of the Varsity Syndicate to allocate funds to personal legal cases and called it irregular. At that time, the Syndicate decision caused controversy for what was widely considered an unusual and unfounded action.
After the Supreme Court’s judgment, the government canceled the appointment of Mr. Ravendran. Then the Supreme Court filed a case against the Chancellor as the first respondent, the state government as the second and Kannur University as the third. The case and use of university funds to support it attracted control from academic and administrative circles. Following the finding of the audit of Dr. Ravendran returned the entire £ 4 lakh to Varsity and effectively acknowledged the financial discrepancy.
Vice -Chairman of KK Saju said that soon after the leadership took the matter with Mr. Ravendran. He immediately agreed to return the amount and was returned in December 2024. However, the matter discovered during the recently closed annual meeting of the Senate, when the audit report was submitted before the Senate. However, the UDF Kannur University forum claimed that the attitude of Varsity indicating full payment was misleading.
Shino P. Jose said that, according to a statement by the Minister of Higher Education in the Assembly in June 2024, he said that combined legal expenses in the case of 68 lakh – 30 lakh from the state government in June 2024.
He claimed that Varsity tried to create a false impression by focusing on only 4 ₹ Lakh returned to the former VC. “This story ignores the total public expenditure arising from a personal legal matter,” Dr. Jose.
He added that the argument of Mr. Ravendran in court was limited to the High Court proceedings, but the legal process was exceeded by both the High Court and the Supreme Court, which significantly increased the costs.
Mr. Jose warned that if the full amount spent by the university and the government is not returned, legal steps follow.
Published – April 8, 2025 9:16
