Kochi: Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Sunday termed as 'unnecessary' the ongoing controversy over the re-appointment of Gopinath Raveendran as Kannur University Vice Chancellor, despite the high court holding that there was nothing wrong in it.
Governor Arif Mohammed Khan and the opposition parties including the Congress have been attacking the Left government over Bindu's alleged intervention in the re-appointment of Raveendran as Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University, saying it was an "infringement" upon the authority of the chancellor.
"The ongoing controversy over the reappointment of the Kannur vice chancellor despite making clear the stand of the state government is unnecessary," the minister said in a Facebook post.
She said the communication between the chancellor and pro chancellor, two legally created posts, is 'quite natural.'
"Even the high court has made it clear that there was nothing wrong in the reappointment. It's highly condemnable that the controversy is still continuing," Bindu said.
"As the pro chancellor of the varsities, I have made it clear that I do not wish to make the communication between the pro chancellor and the chancellor of the varsity a matter of public discussion. Moreover the matter is before the high court," she pointed out.
Bindu also added that the controversy with respect to the intervention of the higher education minister in the appointment of the VC, was without proper understanding of the authority of the pro chancellor.
She said the chancellor can either accept or reject the suggestions of the pro chancellor.
"The pro chancellor can write letters to the chancellor about matters relating to the university. The chancellor has every authority to accept or reject any suggestions given by the pro chancellor," the minister claimed.
Bindu's statement comes two days after the governor had asserted that she has no authority to write to him seeking re-appointment of vice-chancellor of Kannur University.
Addressing the media at the airport here on Friday, Khan reiterated that there was politics involved in the selection of Vice Chancellors in the state universities.
A copy of the Higher Education Minister's purported letter to the Governor seeking re-appointment of Raveendran for a continuous term from November 24, 2021 surfaced recently triggering a political row in the state.
Recently, the Kerala High Court had dismissed a plea against the re-appointment of Raveendran for the post of VC.
The court had said that the re-appointment was different from appointment and the procedure adopted for the latter need not be followed when re-appointing someone.
The Congress party has moved the division bench against the single bench order.
