Thiruvananthapuram: Governor Arif Muhammad Khan did not stop with rejecting the nominee proposed by the government to the post of Kalady Sree Sankaracharya Sanskrit University. He did something unprecedented. He shot off a letter to the Chief Minister telling him he was ready to step down as Chancellor.
In his letter, sent on December 8, the Governor said that he was not interested in holding on to the post of the chancellor. He said he was not interested in continuing as Chancellor if it was to implement the government's political interests in universities. The Governor said that if the government brought an ordinance to divest him of the Chancellor's post, he would willingly sign on it. In what was a clear rebuke, Khan asked the Chief Minister to take over the Chancellor's post.
The Kalady University had set up a three-member 'Search Committee' led by Planning Board vice-chairman V K Ramachandran to identify the right person for the VC's post. The committee was supposed to draw up a list of eligible candidates in two months. However, the committee did not convene even for once and, therefore, was unable to come up with names.
Kalady University rules say that if the Search Committee could not recommend names, the Chancellor could appoint a VC on the basis of the advice given by the State Government. The government used this clause to propose its nominee.
Even this was done in a brazen manner. The Governor was handed over just one name when the UGC Regulations stipulate that the Governor should be given a panel of three names.
Sources said the Governor was already concerned that the 'search committee' was rendered dysfunctional so as to make the way clear for the government to push its nominee.
The appointment of the Kalady University VC was just the last of the many government provocations. The Governor was already bitter about the reappointment of Gopinath Ravindran as Kannur University VC. As per the University statutes, Ravindran could not be given reappointment.
The Governor's letter stated that if he had agreed to the reappointment it was only because he did not want to be on a collision course with the government. He even termed his decision (to approve Ravindran's reappointment) as unbecoming of his post as university chancellor.
The Governor told the Chief Minister that he had tried to convince the government's legal advisor that the reappointment was illegal. However, the legal advisor told the Governor that he was approached for the reappointment on the basis of the opinion of the Advocate General.
When the Governor pointed out that the legal opinion did not have the seal and signature of the Advocate General, a new opinion with the sign and seal of the AG was produced.
Other issues that had caused him deep consternation were also flagged by the Governor in the letter. He said vice-chancellors were moving legally against the chancellor. He was referring to the decision of Kalamandalam VC T K Narayanan to approach the court against the Governor. Khan said that the VC had even refused to heed the government's request to withdraw the plea. He wanted to know why the government had not acted against Narayanan.
The Governor's dissatisfaction with the Sree Narayanaguru Open University Act, 2021 was also laid out in the letter. He said the Open University VC Mubarak Pasha had not been paid his salary for a year. Thrice the Governor's office had written to the government to disburse the VC's salary but all went unheeded.
Chief Secretary V P Joy, and later finance minister K N Balagopal, met the Governor at his residence in Thiruvananthapuram to placate him. But the Governor, sources said, stuck to his stand.
