University VC 'punished' for contempt of court

In a rare case of handing out 'punishment' to a Vice Chancellor, a court of the Kerala Chief Justice on Tuesday ordered the Kottayam-based Mahatma Gandhi University Vice Chancellor Babu Sebastian and two other officials to keep standing in the court till 4.30 p.m for disobeying the court's order.

A division bench of Chief Justice Navaniti Prasad Singh had ordered Vice Chancellor Sebastian, Registrar M.R. Unni, and the Finance Officer to appear before it on why contempt of court proceedings should not be taken as they had failed to obey a single bench order, that was upheld by the division bench and also by the apex court in July.

The order that was upheld even by the apex court pertained to giving service benefits of teachers appointed by the university, which was not adhered to.

Following the order failing to be implemented, the three top officials of the University were asked to present themselves before the court, which directed them to keep standing in the court till 4.30 p.m.

--IANS

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