Kerala: Asked to resign by governor, V-Cs get interim HC relief

On Monday, he served notices to all the nine V-Cs to show cause for their legal right to remain in office. The V-Cs were asked to respond by November 3.

Meanwhile, the V-Cs moved the HC, which held a special sitting on Monday evening. The petitioners argued that there was denial of natural justice as they were not heard before being asked to resign. Granting interim relief, the HC noted that as the Governor had served notice to all the V-Cs, the relevance of his earlier letter seeking their resignations was lost.

Earlier in the day, accusing Khan of “abusing” his powers by asking the V-Cs to resign, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said the move was “unconstitutional and against the essence of democracy”.

Speaking to media persons in Palakkad, Vijayan said: “If the Governor has found the appointment of the nine V-Cs to be illegal, he is responsible for that. The Governor is the appointing authority for the V-Cs. He is responsible if the appointments are illegal. Let the Governor think who should quit: he or the V-Cs. The Governor is acting at the behest of the Sangh Parivar. He is acting with a destructive mentality.”

Vijayan said the office of the Governor is not meant to exert pressure on the government. “He (Khan) is abusing the office of the Governor. It is unconstitutional and against the essence of democracy. His directive to the V-Cs is an encroachment on the academic freedom of the universities and powers of a democratically-elected government. Don’t think that you can exercise the powers which you don’t actually have. It is similar to the foolishness of a lizard which thinks that it is holding up the ceiling. The Governor should understand the limitations of the Governor’s power, which is a remnant of the colonial era.’’

Referring to the LDF’s proposed agitation in front of the Raj Bhavan on November 15, Vijayan warned that “when things unbecoming to the Constitutional body are done, protests would emerge. That has to be faced”.

Later in the day, in a public address in Palakkad, Vijayan said: “You should act within the powers and rights of the Governor. Don’t think that you can cross an inch beyond that limit.”

Khan, meanwhile, stuck to his stand. He told the media that the Supreme Court verdict was very clear and nobody would be exempted from its purview. He said as the V-Cs had refused to resign, he had served notices. “I have given them an opportunity to quit the office in a dignified manner. They don’t listen to the chancellor. They are listening to the LDF. Let them go to the Supreme Court with a review petition. Underqualified persons are appointed only because they belong to the party cadre,’’ he said.

On Friday, the Supreme Court had held that the appointment of the V-C of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Thiruvananthapuram, was “illegal” and “void ab initio” as it flouted the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms.

The SC had held that the search committee which recommended the appointment of Rajasree M S as the V-C of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University was “not duly constituted”. It noted that “as per Section 13(4) of the University Act, 2015, the (search) committee shall recommend unanimously a panel of not less than three suitable persons”, but, in this case, the committee had only recommended Rajasree’s name.

Besides the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Khan had asked eight other V-Cs – of the University of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science & Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries & Ocean Studies, Kannur University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, University of Calicut and Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University – to resign.