After Kerala HC order, scores level 1-1 between Governor and government

The Kerala High Court on Tuesday restrained Governor Arif Mohammed Khan from taking decisions over the removal of the vice chancellors of 10 universities.

The court also refused to stay the governor’s recent order appointing a new vice chancellor for A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU).

The court restrained the governor from taking a final decision on the matter while considering a petition filed by the VCs, which questioned the latter’s powers as the chancellor to sack them. It curbed any further decisions until the petitions before the court were settled.

The governor was directed to file an affidavit and the court posted the matter for November 17.

All 10 vice chancellors gave replies to the governor’s show-cause notices by Monday, and some had sought personal hearings also.

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The show-cause notices for removing them were issued citing violation of UGC norms in their selection.

Meanwhile, the court also refused to stay the governor’s recent decision to give the charge of KTU vice chancellor to senior joint director of technical education director Ciza Thomas, overlooking the state government’s recommendations to hand over the charge either to another vice-chancellor or higher education secretary.

The court issued notice to the governor on the petition filed by the state government challenging the order giving charge to Thomas.

Guv’s aides quit

The Kerala Governor’s legal advisor and the standing counsel of the Chancellor of Universities in the state on Tuesday quit from their respective positions. Senior advocate K Jaju Babu, who was appointed as the honorary legal advisor to the Governor in February 2009, and advocate M U Vijayalakshmi, who was serving as the standing counsel of the Chancellor, vacated their respective positions.

Both of them are from the same law firm — Babu and Babu — and were representing the Governor in the ongoing litigation in the Kerala High Court in connection with the action taken by Governor Arif Mohammad Khan against the Kerala University Senate as well as Vice-Chancellors of 11 universities in the state.