Vice-chancellors should pursue cases against Chancellor at their own expense; Governor directs VCs to repay money spent from university funds

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, the Chancellor of state-run universities, has issued a directive that the Vice-Chancellors and other officers of the universities pursuing litigation against his orders should do so at their own expense. The Governor has sent a notice to the vice-chancellors directing them to repay the money sanctioned from university funds to pursue litigation against the Chancellor.

The vice-chancellors of various universities in the state have spent Rs 1.13 crore to run the cases against the Governor. The vice-chancellors, whose appointments were revoked by the Governor, had used university funds to challenge the Governor's action in the Supreme Court and the High Court. As per the rule, if government officials pursue litigation on their own, then they should do so at their expense. The actions of the VCs are contrary to this rule.

It was Minister Dr R Bindu who said in the assembly that the vice-chancellors had spent Rs 1.13 crore from the university funds to pursue litigation against the Chancellor. The minister said this in her response to Eldhose Kunnappally's question.

Dr Gopinath Raveendran (Kannur University).... Rs 69,25,340
Dr Riji John (KUFOS)................. Rs.35,71,311
Dr MS Rajasree ((Technological University.)........ .Rs.1,47,515
Dr MK Jayaraj (Calicut)........Rs.4,25,000
Dr KN Madhusoodanan (CUSAT)....Rs 77,500
Dr V Anilkumar (Malayalam)......Rs 1,00,000
Dr Mubarak Pasha (Sree Narayana Guru).....Rs 53,000

The Save University Campaign Committee had filed a complaint with the Governor and the Chief Minister demanding that money spent from the university funds for court procedures should be recovered from the VCs and syndicate members.