Kochi: The high court has dismissed a petition challenging the state govt’s decision to withdraw the nominations of three eminent persons to the syndicate of the Sree Narayana Guru Open University and replace them with new members.
The petitioners, who were nominated in March 2025, had argued that their term was co-terminus with the syndicate’s four-year tenure under Sections 25 and 26 of the Sree Narayana Guru Open University Act, 2021, and that the govt had no power to withdraw their nominations without assigning reasons. However, the court found that while Section 26(1) mandates the reconstitution of the syndicate every four years, it does not prescribe a specific term for nominated members. Since Sections 25 and 26 of the 2021 Act do not fix a term for nominated syndicate members, the petitioners had no legal right to continue for four years, the court observed.
The court distinguished the Act from other university statutes, such as the Kerala University Act, which explicitly prescribe a four-year term for syndicate members. Justice P V Kunhikrishnan delivered the verdict on Wednesday, holding that the petitioners —P P Ajayakumar, G Sugunan and P Haridas — had no statutory right to continue for a fixed four-year term.