Kerala Governor names two interim VCs in universities, CM asks him to cancel appointments

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The tussle between Kerala government and the Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar over the appointment of university vice chancellors has taken a turn for the worse, with the latter ‘unilaterally’ posting temporary VCs at two universities without any discussion with the government.

The Kerala Governor, acting as Chancellor, had on Friday reappointed Dr Ciza Thomas and Dr K Sivaprasad as interim vice chancellors of State Digital University and APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University respectively. According to a Raj Bhavan communique, the appointments comply with the Apex Court’s July 30 order on an appeal by the Governor against a High Court verdict in favour of the state government.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, shot off a letter to the Governor demanding the cancellation of the appointments as it was not done in accordance with the Acts of the two universities and was against the essence of the SC verdict, official sources said.

The Chief Minister had in the morning sent a letter to the Governor seeking the posting of permanent VCs to the two universities in consultation with the government in the light of the latest SC verdict, the sources said. He also said in the letter that the Higher Education Minister and Law Minister would seek an appointment with the Governor to discuss the issue, the sources added.

Addressing reporters here, Kerala Industries and Law Minister P Rajeev said the Governor had not only ignored the panel of names submitted by the government, but also challenged the essence of the Supreme Court verdict that suggested that VC appointments should be made in consultation with the government.

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"This is a serious issue. A person holding a high Constitutional position is challenging the Supreme Court verdict which clearly says that the appointment of VCs should be made in accordance with the provisions in the Acts of the respective universities," Rajeev said.

The minister said the High Court had nullified the appointment of the temporary VCs to Digital University and Technical University citing this very reason. State Higher Education Minister R Bindu alleged that the Governor had bypassed the Supreme Court’s suggestion to reach a consensus with the government on the appointment of vice chancellors.

The postings have now been made by misinterpreting the SC verdict, she said. “The Governor is appointing people loyal to RSS in the universities as part of a political agenda,” Bindu alleged.

She said the Governor is trying to create a situation wherein the government has no role in the functioning of universities functioning with public funds. Bindu said the government would seek legal opinion before proceeding further on the issue. Meanwhile, Opposition Leader in the Kerala Assembly V D Satheesan said it is up to the government to take initiative to solve the issues with the Governor.

He said two vice chancellors who took part in the ‘Jnana Sabha’ conducted by the RSS in Kochi were appointed by the Left government. “The issues with the Governor are often created when the government is facing some crisis, in order to deflect attention from other serious issues,” he alleged.