Kerala Government Wants the Governor to Sign an Ordinance Removing Himself as the Chancellor of the Universities

Manas Dasgupta

NEW DELHI, Nov 9: Taking the government – governor clash to a step forward, the Kerala state cabinet has decided to approach the governor Arif Mohammad Khan to promulgate an ordinance removing him as the chancellor of the universities in the state.

The State Cabinet on Wednesday resolved to send a draft ordinance to the governor requesting him to sign it at the earliest and once he steps down appoint renowned academicians as the chancellor of various universities.

“The government wants to supplant Mr. Khan with renowned academic experts as chancellors of various varsities. It was still being determined whether the government would appoint a separate chancellor for each of the 14 universities in the State,” as official spokesman said.

The government appeared to have opened a new political and legal front in the Left Democratic Front’s (LDF) conflict with Mr. Khan over the administration of State universities. This comes in the aftermath of the governor asking the vice-chancellors of nine universities in the state to step down after a Supreme Court judgement last week that the vice-chancellors should be appointed only as per as the University Grants Commission norms.

As per an order issued by the Kerala Governor- 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 have been asked to resign from their posts.

Later the VCs of nine universities moved the High Court challenging the Governor’s order to tender their resignations. The Governor had also appointed Ciza Thomas as Vice Chancellor in-charge of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) in Thiruvananthapuram.

Meanwhile, CM Pinarayi Vijayan government had requested the High Court to stay the appointment that was ordered by Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan, chancellor of the state universities. However, the court on Tuesday declined to stay the appointment.

The Supreme Court in October sacked Dr Rajasree MS from the Vice Chancellor post citing a violation of UGC norms.
A bench of justices MR Shah and CT Ravikumar allowed the appeal filed by Professor Sreejith P.S. challenging the Kerala High Court order dated August 2, 2021.

As per the UGC Regulations also, the Visitor/Chancellor shall appoint the Vice Chancellor out of the panel of names recommended by the Search Committee. Therefore, when only one name was recommended and the panel of names was not recommended, the Chancellor had no option to consider the names of the other candidates, the top court observed.

For one, the proposed ordinance would, at a stroke, divest Mr. Khan’s power as chancellor and render Raj Bhavan remote from all aspects of the university administration. The Cabinet cited that the M. M. Punchhi Commission, constituted in 2007 to study Centre-State relations, had vouched against granting Governors the chancellor’s powers.

The Cabinet contended that the Legislative Assembly had created the office of the chancellor and weaved the legislation into the founding statute that established State universities. Hence, the Assembly was assertively competent to withdraw the Governor’s powers as chancellor.

The Cabinet noted that the Punchhi Commission had stressed that State governments should desist from burdening Governors with the role of chancellor of universities lest the extra authority impede them from the discharge of their constitutional obligations.

The Cabinet decision came as no surprise. On Sunday, CPI(M) State secretary M. V. Govindan had hinted the party would go to any extent to insulate the jurisdictional autonomy of universities from Mr. Khan’s alleged trespasses. The three-day CPI(M) State leadership conference Mr. Govindan chaired had flagged the friction caused by Mr. Khan’s continuation as chancellor and also grappled with the vexing question of curtailing his powers.

The CPI(M) also seemed to take a cue from the DMK-led Tamil Nadu government’s reported weighing of a similar measure following several run-ins with the neighbouring State’s governor over various issues related to university administration.

The Cabinet’s momentous decision came when government-Governor relations were at their lowest point. Earlier, Mr. Khan had asked Finance Minister K. N. Balagopal to resign stating that he was “withdrawing his pleasure for his continuation.”

Mr. Khan had also thrown down the gauntlet to the LDF government by seeking the resignation of vice-chancellors on the ground that the Supreme Court had deemed their appointment processes flawed. He premised his controversial directive on the ground that the government had appointed them through the same procedure deemed unlawful by the Supreme Court in the case of the A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) vice-chancellor.

The Kerala High Court had granted some relief to the government on Tuesday by temporarily restraining the chancellor from passing final orders on the show cause notices he issued to the vice-chancellors.

By some accounts, the Government would introduce a Bill in the Assembly if Mr. Khan disagreed with the ordinance and withheld its promulgation. However, it might not be a smooth going for the LDF in the Assembly. Opposition Leader V. D. Satheesan shattered the government’s hope of a unanimous vote to curtail the Governor’s powers by stating the UDF would oppose a possible Bill to remove the Governor from the chancellor’s post.

He said the LDF’s move was not well-intentioned and conspiratorial. The CPI(M) aspired to insert its favourites into chancellor positions to take total control of the higher education sector to promote politically partisan interests, including nepotism in appointments.

Mr. Satheeshan’s opposition notwithstanding, the LDF is confident that it has the numbers to push a Bill removing Mr. Khan as university chancellor through the Assembly. Moreover, other LDF constituents, including the CPI has closed ranks against the Governor’s alleged trespasses on the jurisdictional autonomy of centres of higher learning.