Governor Arif Mohammed Khan seemed to be on a collision course with the State government.
Mr. Khan hinted that he would seek legal recourse for the police reluctance to investigate the foiled "attack" against him at the Indian History Congress venue in Kannur in 2019.
When asked by reporters whether he would petition the Centre, Mr. Khan said: "You will know on Monday." Mr. Khan indicated that he might hold a "revelatory" press conference at the Raj Bhavan soon.
Mr. Khan seemed to suggest that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had restrained the police from prosecuting the offenders.
"Any attempt to interrupt, restrain, overawe or harm the President or Governor is a cognisable offence under Section 124 of the Constitution. If some higher authority prevents the police from taking legal action, was it an act of favouritism or was that person also part of the conspiracy?" Mr. Khan asked.
Mr Khan said he would release the letters written to him by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. "I am not going to talk about the personal favours he (Mr. Vijayan) sought from me. He had assured me the government would preserve the autonomy of universities," Mr. Khan said.
The Governor dropped sufficient hints that he would not sign the University Law (Amendment) Act, 2022, for he felt it infringed on the independence of universities. He had aired scepticism about the Kerala Lok Ayukta (Amendment) Act, 2022. The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) urged the Governor not to sign the legislation into law.
Communist Party of India (Marxist) [CPI(M)] State secretariat member A.K. Balan and Communist Party of India (CPI) State secretary Kanam Rajendran seemed to harden their stance against the Governor. The leaders accused Mr. Khan of attempting to keep the State government on tenterhooks by not signing Assembly legislation into law.
Nevertheless, Mr. Khan found support in BJP State president K. Surendran. "People will take to the streets in the Governor's support," Mr. Surendran said.
