At a press conference held in college premises on Thursday, college spokesperson Sunil Mathew said this step was necessary to ensure that the new principal has a “clean slate” to start work with.

“Now that Reverend Valson Thampu is gone, the Supreme Council feels the need to initiate a new process, wherein the person joining as the new principal should make his/her own decisions,” he said while denying that the move had anything to do with the illegality of Thampu’s appointment. Mathew said: “Any appointments and admission policy is on stay till the new appointment.”

On Monday, M S Frank, Nandita Narain, K M Mathew, Vijay Tankha, N Raghunathan, Sanjiv Gerewal and Neelam Saxena had collectively resigned from their posts of vice-principal, dean (residence), deputy dean (residence), dean (academic), bursar, assistant bursar and registrar (societies) respectively.

Interestingly, people holding major posts have already been reassigned. M S Frank is the protem administrator, while K M Mathew and N Raghunathan have been appointed as interim dean and protem administrator respectively. They will be in operation till the appointment of a new principal by the Supreme Council.

When asked about the advertisement slip up on Monday, Mathew said it had happened due to mismanagement and miscommunication. “Someone from the office gave the advertisement for printing without consulting me or the Supreme Council,” he said.

New advertisements will be out on Tuesday and Mathew said they would include the age criteria like the earlier ads. The only difference is that the last date for submission of applications is scheduled for May 7. “This time the advertisement mentions that the age group preferred is 50-60 but it is not mandatory, which means that people from all age groups can apply,” he said.