After 15 sacked Kerala University senate members move court, HC asks Governor not to make fresh appointments

Following Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s decision as chancellor of the University of Kerala to dismiss 15 members of the university’s senate, all the members have approached the state court. They said the governor’s move was against the law. During the hearing of the case today, the Kerala High Court asked the Governor not to nominate new candidates in place of the petitioners. The case will be re-examined on October 31.

A meeting of the syndicate was called on October 11, with 13 members present and several abstaining from the meeting, leading to its cancellation due to lack of quorum. Khan ordered the removal of the senate members after his repeated instructions to hold a senate meeting and nominate a senate candidate for the search and selection committee were ignored.

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Members of the senate, who appealed to the court, said that the decision was against the university law. They also said that on August 8, the Governor had issued an order appointing two members to the search and selection committee for the new VC in the University of Kerala. Friends said the order was also against university rules.

The admission committee had to appoint the vice-chancellor. After VC Vice President Mahadevan Pillai failed to comply with the governor’s order to recall 15 members of the senate, the Raj Bhavan issued a notice to remove them.

Earlier, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had said that the Governor’s decision was not in accordance with the law. “The steps he took are not in accordance with the law. Some of the senate members were ex officio and the law does not give him the power to remove them,” Vijayan told PTI. Vijayan also said that the chancellor should adopt a stance conducive to the healthy growth of universities.

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