Denial of Ph.D admission: KSU leader gets interim relief from Kerala High Court

Enrolment denied because of political affiliation and caste, alleges petitioner

A district-level functionary of the Kerala Students Union (KSU), the students’ wing of the Congress, has got interim relief from the Kerala High Court on his plea accusing the University of Calicut authorities of denying him Ph.D admission because of his status as a Dalit. K.P. Lijith Chandran, the Malappuram district president of the KSU, had secured second rank in the Ph.D entrance test conducted by the Department of Life Sciences last year. Mr. Chandran, a native of Anakkara in Palakkad district, had completed M. Phil in Biochemistry with three specializations. Though the rank list was valid for a year, he was denied enrolment despite a vacancy in the department because of his political affiliation and his caste, the petition alleged. The court directed the university to keep one post of research student vacant under G. Radhakrishna Pillai in the department to consider if the petitioner could be accommodated there. The university authorities were also asked to submit details about the existing vacancies in the department. The verdict issued on May 11 said the case would be heard next in three weeks.