Refusal to stay varsity amendment ordinances

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court on Friday refused to stay the University Amendment Ordinances passed by the state government to facilitate nomination to the Syndicates. Justice Antony Dominic passed the order while considering a batch of petitions challenging the amendment. The petitioners had sought a stay on the implementation of the ordinances in Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology and Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. The ordinance had come into force on December 1. The court had ordered to maintain status quo while admitting petitions challenging the new system of constituting the Syndicates.The petitioners alleged that the ordinances were passed by the government to undermine the autonomy of universities and were aimed at creating ‘majority’ for the UDF in the university senates through nomination.The court said staying the operation of the ordinance will be equivalent to nullifying the provisions of the ordinance and the interim stay cannot be granted as requested by the petitioners. The High Court also directed the state government and the three universities to file affidavits within four weeks.