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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Sunday night asked vice chancellors of nine universities in the state to resign by 11.30am Monday, citing a recent Supreme Court order quashing the appointment of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University’s VC for violation of UGC regulations. The order served at short notice will likely to widen a rift between the governor, who is also the chancellor of universities in the state, and the LDF alliance in office. The alliance has alleged that he has been trying to push the “Sangh’s agenda” into the state’s higher education institutions. LDF has called a massive protest outside Raj Bhavan on November 15.
The CPM said the governor’s order “violated all limits of democracy” because the V-Cs were appointed in accordance with state laws. The government is of the view that the VCs needn’t resign “immediately” and it is exploring legal options, higher education minister R Bindu said.
Raj Bhavan warned that if these nine VCs do not resign within the given timeline, they would be served show-cause notices and removed.
The governor’s decision hinged on the Supreme Court judgment last Friday. The top court held that appointment of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University’s current VC MS Rajashree is illegal and unsustainable because it was made after a single name was recommended by a hiring committee.
The court set aside the appointment, which the governor finds applicable to other universities as well. “In view of the above Supreme Court judgment, the following persons either appointed from single name panel or recommended by the search, or selection committee with non-academician as member whose continuation in the office is affected, are ineligible to continue as vice-chancellors,” the Raj Bhavan order said.
Apart from Rajashree, the governor sought the resignation of VP Mahadevan Pillai (Kerala University), Sabu Thomas (Mahatma Gandhi University), KN Madhusoodanan (Cochin University of Science and Technology), K Riji John (Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies), Gopinath Ravindran (Kannur University), MV Narayanan (Sri Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit), MK Jayaraj (Calicut University) and V Anil Kumar (Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University). Mahadevan Pillai, incidentally, is set to retire on Monday.
The CPM said the governor’s order “violated all limits of democracy” because the V-Cs were appointed in accordance with state laws. The government is of the view that the VCs needn’t resign “immediately” and it is exploring legal options, higher education minister R Bindu said.
Raj Bhavan warned that if these nine VCs do not resign within the given timeline, they would be served show-cause notices and removed.
The governor’s decision hinged on the Supreme Court judgment last Friday. The top court held that appointment of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University’s current VC MS Rajashree is illegal and unsustainable because it was made after a single name was recommended by a hiring committee.
The court set aside the appointment, which the governor finds applicable to other universities as well. “In view of the above Supreme Court judgment, the following persons either appointed from single name panel or recommended by the search, or selection committee with non-academician as member whose continuation in the office is affected, are ineligible to continue as vice-chancellors,” the Raj Bhavan order said.
Apart from Rajashree, the governor sought the resignation of VP Mahadevan Pillai (Kerala University), Sabu Thomas (Mahatma Gandhi University), KN Madhusoodanan (Cochin University of Science and Technology), K Riji John (Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies), Gopinath Ravindran (Kannur University), MV Narayanan (Sri Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit), MK Jayaraj (Calicut University) and V Anil Kumar (Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University). Mahadevan Pillai, incidentally, is set to retire on Monday.
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