Thiruvananthapuram: Sending a strong message to the Vice Chancellors of the various universities in Kerala who had approached the High Court against the governor’s decision to disqualify them citing anomalies in their selection procedure, Arif Mohammed Khan has ordered that the concerned Vice chancellor’s should pay the legal fees on their individual capacity and not from the university fund.
The governor has also directed that the total fund of Rs 1.13 crore to be repaid to the university fund account and report the same with the Raj Bhavan.
The decision by the Raj Bhavan has come as a major setback for the Vice Chancellors. However, none of the officials of the universities commented on the new direction by the governor.
The message has been shared with all the four Vice chancellors including the Kannur VC and the KUFOS VC who had approached the court and had spent Rs 1.13 crores from the university fund as advocate fees.
As per sources, the Kannur Vice Chancellor Gopinath Raveendran had spent Rs 69 lakh and the KUFOS (Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies) VC Mahadevan Pillai had spent Rs 30 lakh as legal fees which they had been availed from the University fund bank. As per governor Arif Mohammed Khan, this is against the university laws and the legal fees should be paid from their personal capacity.
All the Vice Chancellors who had been asked to quit on October, 2022 was appointed by a panel suggested by the state government. Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had objected to the appointment procedure and had challenged it in the Supreme Court.
In a tweet from the Raj Bhavan on October 23, 2022, the governors office had said that the decision was based on the October 21 order of the Supreme Court that set aside the appointment of MS Rajashree as the VC of the technological university.
However, seven of the nine Vice chancellors had approached the High Court against this order by Arif Mohammed Khan.
The governor today has raised strong objections to the funds used by the Vice Chancellors to fight legally against the order issued.
The message has been shared with all the four Vice chancellors including the Kannur VC and the KUFOS VC who had approached the court and had spent Rs 1.13 crores from the university fund as advocate fees. Kerala States News India: Top News India, States News, States News Headlines, Online State News India, State Politics news
