Kerala: Taking Corrective Action Based On SC Judgement, Says Governor Arif Khan; Asks Two More Vice-Chancellors To Resign

After asking Vice Chancellors (VCs) of nine universities to resign following a Supreme Court order quashing the appointment of MS Rajasree, the VC of APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has now asked two more VCs to resign.

The Supreme Court in its order had nullified the appointment saying it violated the guidelines laid down by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

According to the UGC guidelines, the search committee should recommend a panel of at least three candidates to the Chancellor and the committee must have at least one academician as a member.

In a letter to the VCs, Khan wrote that they were being asked to quit following the Supreme Court order because they had been appointed either from single-name panels or a search committee with no academic member.

Hinting at political interference, he said that in most of the cases, the Chief Secretary was a member of the search committee.

As the VCs refused to resign, Khan issued show-cause notices to them, asking them to file their responses by 3 November on their ‘legal right’ to continue in their posts.

The Vice Chancellors moved the Kerala High Court which said that the VCs could continue to serve in their posts till the time the Governor passed a final order based on their response.

While CPI-M leader MB Rajesh said, “The verdict cannot be automatically applied to all VCs. It was only limited to the particular case of one university on a petition filed against it,” the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan said that Khan is “acting as a tool” of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

Khan however said that he is taking corrective action based on the Supreme Court judgement and he was asking for resignations to provide the VCs with an honourable exit instead of sacking them. He also said that the selection process must be started afresh.