Kochi, The Kerala High Court on Wednesday ruled that the Centre has the right to remove SCTIMST Director, upholding a Central Administrative Tribunal order that dismissed a petition by Asha Kishore, who was head of Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) here.

Kishore had first approached the CAT against her removal as Director, but it dismissed her petition in November 2020, following which she approached the High Court.

SCTIMST is an institution of national importance under the Department of Science and Technology, government of India.

The Institute focuses on high-quality, advanced treatment of cardiac and neurological disorders, indigenous development of technologies for biomedical devices and materials, and public health training and research.

The court said that when the term of the present interim Director K Jayakumar ends, the Centre can appoint the next Director also.