Kochi: Governor Arif Mohammad Khan told the High Court on Thursday that the senate members of the Kerala University have acted against him. He was responding to the notice in the plea challenging removal of 15 members of the senate. Governor raised severe allegations against the varsity’s senate during a hearing in the High Court.
Khan said that he withdrew his pleasure for the senate members to continue in the office as they acted against him who appointed them. However, the High Court pointed out that ‘withdrawing pleasure’ should be as per the law and not according to personal interests. According to Khan, the senate has launched a proxy war against him on the issue of appointing a new vice-chancellor (VC) for the university. The governor also stated that none of this could have happened if the senate members nominated a name for the search committee to find the new Vice-Chancellor.
A bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran, while hearing the pleas filed by the expelled senate members, observed that the pleasure should be exercised only as per the law and not based on the Chancellor’s personal preferences. The court, however, explained that it did not suggest that the Chancellor had acted with ulterior motives. The expelled senate members had approached the court demanding to quash the Chancellor’s order. They argued that the order was illegal. Their petition had also questioned the Chancellor’s authority to appoint a two-member search committee for a new VC.
Meanwhile, during a hearing on another petition seeking to speed up the VC appointment process, the court directed the senate to suggest its nominee to the search panel. During this hearing, the court asked the senate why it was adamant about opposing the notification issued by the Chancellor constituting a search committee for VC. It was a minor matter which could be solved by recommending a member to the search panel, observed the court. The verdict will be pronounced by the bench of Justice Devan Ramachandran on Thursday afternoon.
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