Row over V-Cs resignation evolves into a tit-for-tat war of words between the government and Raj Bhavan
The Hindu
The apex court had found that the KTU appointment violated University Grants Commission (UGC) norms
The row over Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan's demand that vice-chancellors of nine universities in Kerala tender their resignation descended into a tit-for-tat war of words between the Raj Bhavan and the government.
In a politically charged press conference at the Raj Bhavan, Mr. Khan launched a strong attack on Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's portrayal of his injunction as an authoritarian bid to precipitate a crisis in the higher education sector with a sly motive to destabilise the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government at the behest of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
Mr. Khan said the Supreme Court's cancellation of M.S. Rajasree's appointment as the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) vice chancellor had rendered the continuation of vice-chancellors in different varsities constitutionally untenable. Its order had nothing to do with the RSS.
The apex court had found that the KTU appointment violated University Grants Commission (UGC) norms. The government had followed the same erroneous process in selecting other vice-chancellors.
For one, the government-appointed search committees had failed to submit a panel of three to five candidates to the chancellor so the governor could exercise his informed judgement.
Instead, the committees arbitrarily proposed a single name for the top academic posts, thereby hobbling the chancellor's right to wield his discretion.