THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Extraordinary order of the Government to form a search committee for the appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of the Kerala Technological University (KTU) according to the provisions of the bill passed by the Assembly and rejected by the President.
The President had rejected the bill to replace the current three-member search committee with a five-member committee including two government representatives. A five-member committee was constituted under the provisions of the now-expired Bill. The order without appointing even the members of the committee comes while the High Court is hearing the petition to appoint VCs in nine varsities today. The order was interpreted as being within the purview of the government under Article 162 of the Constitution.
Technological University VC Dr MS Rajasree was sacked by the Supreme Court in October 2022 due to irregularities in the appointment. The varsity did not provide the search committee representative despite repeated requests from the governor. The committee should have representatives from UGC, varsity and chancellor. The committee consists of one representative each from the UGC, the Vice-Chairman of the Higher Education Council, the Syndicate and two representatives from the Government. Efforts are being made to make those who are preferred, using the majority of government representatives, the VC.
Legal entanglement
Power vested in the Chancellor
Frequent setbacks