Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s ultimatum to nominate a member to the search-cum-selection committee for the next Vice-Chancellor (V-C) has triggered discord in Kerala University (KU) where Left-aligned Syndicate members have raised objections against a move to convene an urgent senate meeting to comply with the directive.
A delegation led by Syndicate members Shijukhan J.S., G. Muralidharan and R. Rajesh met Vice-Chancellor in-charge Mohanan Kunnummal to convey the “impropriety” in calling the meeting under controversial circumstances.
Prof. Kunnummal had directed the Registrar to arrange the meeting on February 16 with the single-point agenda of discussing the Raj Bhavan notice and nominating a member to the selection panel. This has further soured his relations with Syndicate members after finding himself virtually cornered at a recent Syndicate meeting that discussed the fiasco over the nomination of senate members.
Asserting the Chancellor’s direction as legally untenable, the Syndicate members are learnt to have told Prof. Kunnummal that the attempts being made to proceed with the selection process to identify the next Vice-Chancellor were tantamount to disrespecting the Legislative Assembly.
The University Amendment Bills, which were passed by the Assembly and proposed altering the composition of selection panels and removing the Governor as the Chancellor of universities, are under the consideration of the President.
Besides, the Kerala High Court had stayed the Governor’s nomination of student representatives to the senate. Convening a senate meeting at a time when its constitution is incomplete and under judicial scrutiny is an ill-advised move, they maintained.
They have threatened to pursue legal options if the Vice-Chancellor went ahead with his plan to convene the senate meeting. The participation of the recently-nominated senate members, who are purportedly backed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), is also expected to arouse interest.
The university senate had refused to entertain a similar demand made by the Governor two years ago. It had then passed a resolution against the Governor’s “unilateral and undemocratic move” to constitute a selection committee without the senate’s nominee.
