‘Legislative bodies should be respected’; Governor opposes VC appointment by Supreme Court

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor Rajendra Arlekar opposes the Supreme Court on the university vice chancellor (VC) appointment. The governor said that the authority to appoint VCs is with the chancellor. He also added that it is mentioned clearly in the UGC law that the chancellor is entrusted to appoint the VCs. The Governor raised this criticism at the stage where the V R Krishna Iyer Award was presented to retired Supreme Court chief justice and former Kerala governor P Sathasivam.
He said that the wonder is that courts or judges give different interpretations even in similar situations on the same issue. He added that he is still surprised as a common man by what the Supreme Court has said. There is a situation in Kerala right now where the university issues are being discussed everywhere. Everybody knows what the verdict was regarding Kannur University, amid this. He said that the verdict released by three judges together respected the rights of UGC as well as respecting the governor.
‘Courts have no power to amend the Constitution. Such incidents have happened recently. Legislative bodies should be respected. Why has the search committee been appointed by the court? The chancellor got the authority to do so. It is not right for the court to take on the responsibilities of others. The court can only instruct to obey the law. Don’t say we can do your job. The court should respect the responsibilities of each. The court may also say this to the election commission in the future', the governor said.
Meanwhile, the Supreme Court has made a strict ruling the previous day, in the VC appointment dispute. The court said that the Supreme Court will decide the VCs of technical and digital universities and directed Justice Dhulia Committee to give each name in a sealed cover.