A CPI(M) rally.
Credit: PTI Photo
Thiruvananthapuram: The CPI(M) state secretariat on Friday denied reports of differences within the party over the appointment of Vice Chancellors to universities in Kerala.
In a statement, the party said the Acts governing the Kerala Digital University and the Kerala Technological University clearly stipulate that the Chancellor, who is also the Governor, must seek the state government's opinion before appointing temporary Vice Chancellors.
Ignoring this provision, the Chancellor unilaterally appointed temporary Vice-Chancellors, after which the state government approached the Kerala High Court.
Both the single bench and the division bench of the High Court upheld the government’s stand, the statement said.
Challenging this, the Chancellor approached the Supreme Court, which directed the appointment of permanent Vice-Chancellors and asked both the Governor and the government to arrive at a consensus.
The apex court also constituted a search committee, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge, to prepare panels to select Vice Chancellors.
The committee submitted lists of three candidates each to the Chief Minister.
According to the statement, the Chief Minister, as per the court’s direction, fixed the order of preference and forwarded the names to the Chancellor.
However, he did not accept the list and instead submitted two alternative names before the Supreme Court, recording his dissent, the party said.
The Supreme Court again asked the Governor and the Chief Minister to reach a consensus.
While the Governor initially did not agree, he later called the Chief Minister and arrived at a consensus after the court adopted a stricter stance, the party said.
This agreement has now been accepted by the Supreme Court, the statement said.
The CPI(M) state secretariat said it had unanimously approved the stand taken by the Chief Minister on Vice Chancellor appointments.
The party alleged that despite this, some media outlets were attempting to create an impression that there were differences within the CPI(M) state secretariat on the issue, calling it false propaganda.