Kerala University refuses to recommend its nominee for Vice Chancellor selection panel

It conveys to Raj Bhavan Senate’s disinclination to take up issue for discussion again

Thiruvanathapuram: The University of Kerala appears to be on a collision course with Raj Bhavan as it has refused to honour the Governor’s ultimatum to convene the Senate to choose its nominee for the Vice Chancellor selection panel by Monday.

Refusing to budge from its position, the university has written to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan reiterating its objection to the latter’s “legally untenable” decision to form a search-cum-selection committee in his capacity as the Chancellor without including the Senate’s nominee.

The Senate had a month ago passed a resolution demanding the withdrawal of Raj Bhavan’s move to constitute the selection committee.

While conveying the Senate’s disinclination to take up the issue for discussion again, Vice Chancellor V.P. Mahadevan Pillai also sought “clarification” on whether the Chancellor’s directive for the Senate’s nominee was intended for a selection panel that would be freshly notified after disbanding the existing one.

The university authorities blamed the Chancellor for the stalemate caused by his “hasty” move that supposedly contravened the provisions of the Kerala University Act. They also claimed that the Chancellor had not yet responded to the Senate’s resolution that it had duly sent to Raj Bhavan.

“The Act contains no provision that enables the university to nominate a member to a selection committee that has already been notified. Besides, the Senate is the supreme governing body of the university and its decision cannot be overruled by the Chancellor, who is only a member of the statutory body. The Vice Chancellor is bound by his responsibility to uphold the Senate’s decisions,” an official said.

With Prof. Pillai’s tenure set to end on October 24, the university could be helmed by the Vice Chancellor of another State university or a senior bureaucrat in the interim period. The selection committee formed by Raj Bhavan on August 5 was mandated with submitting its recommendation within three months.