The apex court had found that the KTU appointment violated University Grants Commission (UGC) norms
The apex court had found that the KTU appointment violated University Grants Commission (UGC) norms
The row over Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan’s demand that vice-chancellors of nine universities in Kerala tender their resignation descended into a tit-for-tat war of words between the Raj Bhavan and the government.
In a politically charged press conference at the Raj Bhavan, Mr. Khan launched a strong attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s portrayal of his injunction as an authoritarian bid to precipitate a crisis in the higher education sector with a sly motive to destabilise the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government at the behest of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Mr. Khan said the Supreme Court’s cancellation of M.S. Rajasree’s appointment as the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) vice chancellor had rendered the continuation of vice-chancellors in different varsities constitutionally untenable. Its order had nothing to do with the RSS.
The apex court had found that the KTU appointment violated University Grants Commission (UGC) norms. The government had followed the same erroneous process in selecting other vice-chancellors.
For one, the government-appointed search committees had failed to submit a panel of three to five candidates to the chancellor so the governor could exercise his informed judgement.
Instead, the committees arbitrarily proposed a single name for the top academic posts, thereby hobbling the chancellor’s right to wield his discretion.
Supreme Court order’s aftermath
A Supreme Court order is the law of the land. Its decree is inviolable. Hence, the continuance of the vice-chancellors selected by a process deemed illegal by the Supreme Court is constitutionally ill-founded and therefore has no legal effection inception (void ab initio).
Mr. Khan said he had spoken to the vice-chancellors over the phone and offered them a decorous exit by asking them to resign. He had demurred from slapping them with show-cause notices right away.
With the vice-chancellors failing to respond to Raj Bhavan’s counsel, Mr. Khan said the chancellor was constrained to initiate show-cause notices against them.
The chancellor would extend the vice-chancellors sufficient time to formulate a coherent reply. Mr. Khan said the Raj Bhavan has no urgency in the matter. But, it had to set a deadline for submitting the response.
Accuses ministers of denigrating chancellor
Mr. Khan challenged the government to represent its case for the continuation of the vice-chancellors in their respective posts in front of the Supreme Court instead of denigrating the chancellor’s office.
He declined to respond to charges of political partisanship and authoritarianism raised against him by Higher Education Minister R. Bindu. “Some feet have grown too big,” he said.
Mr. Khan said any citizen could criticise him. “It’s a free country. But those who continue in office at the governor’s pleasure, including ministers and vice-chancellors, have no right to criticise the head of state. It’s a national institution akin to that of the President,” he said.
Private meeting denied
The governor slammed an attempt by “three ministers to meet me in private in Kochi”. He asked them to forward the request in writing to Raj Bhavan. They declined because they wanted nothing on record and preferred to conduct matters of state surreptitiously. He said only the Chief Minister has the authority to brief him. Mr. Khan accused Mr. Vijayan of forsaking that constitutional responsibility.
Slew of grievances against government
The governor also repeated his grievances against the government. For one, Mr. Khan said the administration had not invited him to Onam celebrations. It denied an official event as Ministers lined up to watch the tourism week pageantry. “Despite the protocol breach, I still send Mr. Vijayan Raj Bhavan’s customary Onam gift”,. he said. Mr. Khan railed against nepotism in varsity appointments and extending lifelong pensions to political appointees in ministers’ offices.
Stoking regionalism
Mr. Khan accused the ruling front of stoking regionalism, insularity and regionalism instead of promoting national unity. “A minister says the governor is from Uttar Pradesh; hence he is ignorant of Kerala’s higher education sector. May I remind the gentleman that several greats, including former president S. Radhakrishnan, had helmed the Benaras Hindu University? Nobody had alienated the late scholar by pointing out he was from the deep south. I dare Kerala’s political executive to say the same thing about the Supreme Court judges who invalidated the KTU vice chancellor’s appointment. They dare not, for they are well aware of the consequences such insinuations would entail,” he said.
Defends RSS association
Mr. Khan defended his association with the RSS. “The RSS and CPI(M) had backed my position in the Shah Banu case. The left later backed out though they shared power at different times with the BJP. The RSS stood steadfast. I have lectured RSS trainees in OTC camps since 1986,” he said.
Mr. Khan said socialism held no appeal for him. “I am a liberal at heart. Socialists have imbibed a foreign idealogy that sanctions violence and intimidation as means to achieve political ends. We see the manifestation of that philosophy in a small measure in Kerala. I do not subscribe to the view,” he said.
Mr. Vijayan strikes a strident tone
At a public function in Palakkad in the evening, Mr. Vijayan struck a strident tone with Mr. Khan. He said the government’s advice bound the governor.
“He cannot act on his own Nobody need presume they can usurp the elected government’s inalienable authority. The constitution is very clear on the matter. People will rein in those who attempt to overstep their constitutional boundaries. Kerala will not brook authoritarianism. Those close to the governor better counsel him. He has a problem that requires help,” he said.
The LDF’s campaign against the chancellor’s infringement on the autonomy of varsities commenced on Monday, with the Students Federation of India (SFI) organising impromptu protests against the governor across Kerala. The ruling front announced a Raj Bhavan siege on November 15, preceded by drumming up of public opinion against Mr. Khan.