Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Oct 24: The Kerala High Court after holding a special sitting on Monday has allowed the vice-chancellors of nine universities to continue till the governor issued the final order, as a fresh controversy erupted between the Pinarayi Vijayan government and Governor Arif Mohammad Khan.
The High Court allowed a special sitting on Monday to hear the petitions challenging Governor Khan’s controversial order issued on Sunday evening asking the Vice Chancellors of nine universities appointed independently by the Kerala government, to quit by 11.30 on Monday morning. But after they petitioned the High Court, the governor only issued them a notice asking the Vice Chancellors to “show cause by 5 pm on or before November 3 their legal right to continue in office.” The notice said in the absence of a response, their appointment will be considered “illegal and void”, the Raj Bhavan said.
The court said the under the Governor’s show-cause notice, the Vice-Chancellors can continue till he issues a final order.
Citing a Supreme Court order, the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the nine universities, has argued that the state government has no authority to appoint Vice Chancellors of universities. The appointments are contrary to the rules of the University Grants Commission and are “bad in law”, he contended. To remove the “anomaly” and “initiate steps for making proper appointments,” the Vice Chancellors were asked to resign, the Raj Bhavan said.
“Since you have refused to tender your resignation…. there is no option but to declare your appointment as illegal and void ab initio,” read a letter tweeted by the official handle of the Raj Bhavan.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has accused Mr Khan of “waging war” with an intention to “destroy” the universities in the state. The Governor, he said, is acting as the spearhead of the Sangh Parivar. Workers of the ruling Left Democratic Front held massive protests across the state on Monday.
Calling the Governor’s order “arbitrary, illegal and politically motivated”, CPM’s Sitaram Yechury said, “They want to appoint RSS workers there and control the higher education system so that they are able to propagate Hindutva ideology in educational institutions”.
The Governor’s order has come for Vice-Chancellors of the University of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kannur University, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, University of Calicut and Thunachath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University.
The Left-led government of PInarayi Vijayan has been at loggerheads with the Governor, who was an active BJP leader before his appointment, since he took over as the governor in 2019. The clashes have encompassed a range of issues, from Citizenship Amendment law to farm laws.
