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Kerala assembly passes bill to remove Governor as chancellor of universities
In the prevailing scenario, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan is unlikely to give his assent and may refer the Bill to the President
Despite a boycott by the opposition, the Kerala assembly on Tuesday passed the University Law (Amendment) Bill to replace the Governor as chancellor of all universities in the state and instead appoint top academicians to the post.
The Congress-led opposition boycotted the session after the Pinarayi Vijayan government turned down its suggestion to include retired judges of the high court or Supreme Court in the selection panel of new VCs instead of state nominees.
Though the opposition supported the move to replace the Governor, it suspected that only Left-leaning academicians will be appointed as chancellors, affecting the autonomy of varsities.
The House witnessed a long discussion over the new Bill, with law minister P Rajeev insisting that retired judges cannot be members of the selection panel and that the Speaker will be a better option. But the opposition rejected the suggestion and staged a walkout.
“We agreed to the move to replace the Governor but the alternate move should be more transparent. The speaker is always from the ruling party and we wanted retired judges in the selection panel,” said opposition leader VD Satheesan, adding that the new arrangement will bring more harm than solving existing issues.
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In the prevailing scenario, Governor Arif Mohammad Khan is unlikely to give his assent and may refer the Bill to the President. He already gave enough hints on this by saying that “he cannot judge a legislation which is intended to question his constitutional obligations”.
The state government and the Governor have been at loggerheads over the management of varsities since last year and both have engaged openly in several heated arguments over this.
Tussle between the two escalated in October after Khan asked 11 vice-chancellors in Kerala to resign after the Supreme Court quashed the appointment of MS Rajashree as the V-C of the Kerala Technical University for flouting University Grants Commission guidelines. The matter is before the high court.
