Notification issued: Ciza Thomas Technical VC, Saji Gopinath in Digital: Consensus in Sunday's Pinarayi-Arlekar meeting

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Governor-Chief Minister spat over the appointment of VCs has come to an end. The Governor ended the confrontation with the government and issued a notification appointing VCs at night while the Supreme Court is set to issue an order appointing Vice Chancellors of Digital and Technical Universities tomorrow. Dr. Ciza Thomas has been appointed as VC in the Technical University and Dr. Saji Gopinath in the Digital University. The government and the Governor, who had not given in despite the Supreme Court's repeated requests to reach a consensus, gave in after the Supreme Court took over the appointment responsibility.

The Kerala Governor had pointed out in a meeting attended by former Supreme Court Chief Justice P Sathasivam that the power to appoint VCs lies with the Chancellor, who is also the Governor. 'Kerala Kaumudi' had reported that the appointment will be made in both places through consensus without going into further legal complications.

The Governor will inform the Supreme Court tomorrow that the VCs have been appointed. The agreement was reached in a meeting with the Governor on Sunday evening when the Chief Minister visited the Lok Bhavan. It is learnt that the Governor had indicated that if Ciza was not appointed, Saji Gopinath, who is of interest to the government, would not be appointed and that he would approach the Centre for a CBI investigation into the research fund irregularities at the Digital University.

What if the Supreme Court appoints?

The Governor informed the Chief Minister that if the Supreme Court takes over the appointment duty of the VC, this will be the case for about a dozen other appointments as well. The Governor had suggested Dr. Priyachandran of Kozhikode NIT for the digital department. However, the Chief Minister took the stand that Sajigopinath should be appointed. After holding discussions with the Advocate General, the Chief Minister accepted Ciza's name and agreed to the consensus. The appointment is for a period of 4 years.