Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday removed the Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit in Kalady.

Arlekar, who also serves as the Chancellor of state universities, relieved K K Geethakumary from the post. Dr Ciza Thomas, the Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, has been given additional charge of the university until further orders.

However, a notification issued by Kerala Raj Bhavan did not mention the specific reason for Geethakumary’s removal. Efforts to reach the university spokesperson for a response were unsuccessful.

Last month, the Governor had frozen the university syndicate’s decision to declare a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) student, who had earlier failed the examination, as having passed. According to reports, a student named A Kalesh, who had failed the BFA course in 2005, was later admitted to the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) programme and completed the course in 2023.

The syndicate had decided to award Kalesh, an activist of Students' Federation of India (SFI), a BFA degree by treating the case as a special one. However, the Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) filed a complaint with the government over the matter.

The SUCC also submitted a complaint to the Governor against the Vice-Chancellor, alleging that she violated an order that had frozen the recruitment of assistant professors and attempted to proceed with faculty appointments ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections.

Following the complaint, Arlekar halted the recruitment of faculty members at the university last month. There were also allegations against the Vice-Chancellor regarding the allotment of land for a cricket stadium in violation of existing rules.