V-Cs of 9 Kerala universities can continue till governor takes final call: HC

The single bench of the Kerala High Court justice Devan Ramachandran refused to get into the merit of the case and reminded all the court was also bound by the verdict of the Supreme Court which had unseated Technical University V-C MS Rajashree.

The Kerala high court on Monday held that the letter issued by governor Arif Mohammed Khan, directing the vice-chancellors (V-Cs) of nine universities in the state to resign, was no longer valid since Khan himself later issued show cause notices asking them for their response by November 3.

The Kerala high court

The court, therefore, ruled that the V-Cs can continue in their posts till the governor passes a final order after following the procedure under the law.

The single bench of justice Devan Ramachandran refused to get into the merit of the case and reminded all the court was also bound by the verdict of the Supreme Court which had unseated Technical University V-C MS Rajashree.

On Monday, Khan issued notices to vice-chancellors of the nine universities after they refused to send their resignation letters to him before 11.30am as per his directive on Sunday.

This was disclosed by the Governor himself, who is also the chancellor of the universities in the state. "Now, they have refused to resign. Now formal notices have been issued", Khan told a press conference.

He said the notices were issued upholding the verdict of the Supreme Court, which has declared as "void ab initio" any appointment as a V-C made on the recommendation of the Search Committee, which is constituted contrary to the provisions of the UGC regulation.

“Notices issued to ViceChancellors concerned to show cause by 5 pm on or before Nov 3rd,their legal right to continue in office as ViceChancellors¬ to declare their appointment illegal& void ab initio,have been sent to official e mail id of VCs&Registrars (sic),” the Kerala Raj Bhavan tweeted.

Khan's notice came even as the Kerala high court was holding a special sitting on Monday amid a row over his order to the vice-chancellors of nine universities to quit.

Upholding the recent Supreme Court order quashing the appointment of the V-C of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University for being contrary to University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations, Khan on Sunday sought resignations of V-Cs of nine varsities in the state.