LDF plans new ordinance to clip wings of Kerala Governor; will send to President without endorsing it, says Khan

“Supreme Court verdicts bar state governments from appointing vice-chancellors of universities. I have acted only as per UGC guidelines, and the court has made it clear that no state legislation can conflict with the UGC Act,” he added.

Decision at Cabinet meeting

A Cabinet meeting held in the morning decided to draft the ordinance and send it for approval to Khan following legal advice that the Chancellor’s post held by the Governor lacks constitutional validity.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. (K B Jayachandran)

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan is learned to have informed the meeting that the Governor was holding the Chancellor’s post as an additional charge bestowed by the state Assembly.

The Cabinet can take back that right by issuing an ordinance first and placing it as legislation in the Assembly later, he said.

Though the Governor has, on numerous occasions in the past, said he is ready to give up the Chancellor’s post, he changed his position last week, saying he was continuing in the position after the chief minister gave a written assurance that ministers would not interfere in the affairs of state universities, or show nepotism in filling vacancies.

Khan digs in

He is now hinting that no effort to remove him from the Chancellor’s post would succeed as he has a constitutional mandate to decide independently on the worth of any such moves.

Now the state government has decided to take the extreme step after the Governor unilaterally constituted a Search Committee to find a new vice-chancellor for Kerala University, and initiated efforts to remove 10 vice-chancellors from their positions, claiming their appointments were made in violation of UGC guidelines.

Khan’s show cause notices to these vice-chancellors, against the backdrop of the Supreme Court verdict making void ab initio the selection of Kerala Technological University vice-chancellor MS Rajashree, has invited stiff resistance from the government and its Higher Education Department.

Several professor vacancies in the state universities, which were allegedly been filled with close relatives of LDF leaders, had also irked the Governor, who is now engaged in an open war of words with the government almost daily.

Currently, Khan is sitting on two legislations passed by the state Assembly: One that curbs his powers as Chancellor of the state universities, and the other taking away the judicial powers of anti-corruption ombudsman Lokayukta.

Related: HC refuses to stay appointment of Ciza Thomas as interim V-C 

Government seeks independent chancellors

When contacted by the South First,  Higher Education Minister R Bindu said the government plans to bring in expert academicians of repute in place of the Governor as chancellors of different state universities.

“There would not be a single Chancellor to all the universities as in the past. There would be separate chancellors for agricultural and digital universities. However, a single Chancellor would be appointed to look after Kerala, Calicut, Kannur, Sanskrit and Malayalam universities,” she said.

She said the government hopes the governor would honour his constitutional responsibility of approving an ordinance issued by the state Cabinet.

Bindu claimed that the government’s decision was part of its efforts to improve the overall standard of the universities in the state.

War of words

In his television interview, Khan accused Chief Minister Vijayan of dictating terms in “threatening” language.

“The chief minister is threatening me. I will resist any such threats using the prevailing laws. There would not be any backtracking even if the repercussions are severe,” he said.

He added Vijayan was showing irreverence towards him.

Meanwhile, the Congress-led opposition UDF decided to oppose the ordinance as it would facilitate a situation in which LDF’s major constituent, the CPI(M), filling the Chancellor posts with its nominees.

“What’s the need of removing the Chancellor and finding a set of alternatives for him?  If allowed, it will facilitate backdoor entry of party nominees to crucial positions. That would ruin further the higher education sector,” said VD Satheesan, leader of the Opposition.

Just a day before, the Left parties and the Opposition had come together to protest against the Governor for discriminating among media organisations in the state.