Governor's case will delay appointment of VC; government also prefers the same

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: VC appointments will be delayed endlessly if the governor goes to court, citing the government's obstruction of the appointment of vice-chancellors and demanding that universities should provide representatives to search committees. 11 varsities do not have VC. It will take months to reach a decision after hearing both sides. The governor's term ends in September.

The varsities have not provided a representative, despite the governor requesting more than ten times. This is as per government directive. The appointment of the VC and the formation of the search committee for the same is the responsibility of the Governor.

The committee should have representatives from the Chancellor, UGC and Senate. If the varsity representative is not provided, the Governor may constitute a search committee without them. The governor is going to file the case without doing that.

In Kerala Varsity, the Senate chaired by Minister R. Bindu decided not to appoint a search committee representative. Despite the UGC appointing a representative to the search committee of three universities, the universities did not appoint a representative as the government intervened. The Senate is empowered to appoint the Search Committee representative in Kerala, MG, Kannur and Agricultural Universities whereas it is the Syndicate that is authorised to do it elsewhere.

In the Kerala University case, the High Court had ordered that if the university did not provide a senate representative, the governor could proceed with the process of appointing the VC on his own. There is no bar to form a search committee consisting of academic experts without including a Senate representative. The UGC rule is that no one connected with the government should be there in the search committee. If the government or the varsities file a case against the two-member committee, the governor can take a stand.

Chancellor's decision is final

• The chancellor has to decide on the appointment of VC. This decision is final.
• It is illegal to follow someone else's interest or order.
• There is a clear distinction between the Chancellor and the State Government in the law

(Supreme Court order in Kannur VC case)

Government also likes legal trouble

1. The government is also interested in the VC appointment getting entagled in legal issues. That way, the appointment can be extended until the end of the governor's term in September.
2. The IAS officer who is the secretary to the governor advised to reject the legal advisor's recommendation to set up a two-member committee and proceed with the case because of the government's interest.