Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan is considering action against the state Higher Education Minister and the Advocate General (AG) for “misleading” him on the high court's annulment of the reappointment of Dr Gopinath Ravindran as the Kannur University Vice-Chancellor.
However, it’s not sure whether his action will be confined to giving a letter to the chief minister, recommending action against those who misled him.
Higher Education Minister Bindu, in her capacity as Pro-Chancellor, had written to the Governor, recommending the appointment of Gopinath Ravindran as the Kannur Varsity Vice-Chancellor. It was after accepting the minister’s recommendation to annul the Search Committee formed for the VC appointment that Gopinath was reappointed.
The AG too provided his legal advice without the Governor asking for the same, pointing out that there was legal scope for the reappointment, based on which the latter made the decision. Governor Khan, also the Chancellor of the University, accused the AG of “misleading” him on the matter the other day.
K Gopala Krishna Kurup is the current AG.
Khan has consulted with senior lawyers of the Supreme Court and the High Court, besides the constitution experts, on the Governor being the appointment authority of a minister and an AG, and whether he has the constitutional right to act against them.
Governor had issued a show cause notice to Dr Gopinath, questioning his legal right to hold the office while citing a recent apex court order quashing the appointment of the VC of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University for violating UGC norms. Dr Gopinath has to give a reply by November 3.
The Governor sent notices to 11 VCs who got appointed to the post “in violation of the UGC norms”. None of them replied till Friday. Out of the 11, nine VCs should submit their reply by 5 pm on November three and the remaining two by November 5.
Governor Khan will return from New Delhi on November 3.
A few days ago the Governor had demanded the sacking of Kerala Finance Minister KN Balagopal from the Council Of Ministers over the latter's remark against him.
