State moves Kerala HC against governor’s notifications, ETEducation
Kochi: Kerala govt has approached high court with a petition seeking to quash the notifications issued by the governor, in his capacity as chancellor of Calicut University, one constituting a search-cum-selection committee for appointing the vice-chancellor and the other inviting applications for the post.
The bench of Justice V G Arun adjourned the petition to Nov17 at the request of the counsel for the chancellor. The chancellor had issued a notification on Oct 31 constituting a search-cum-selection committee for the appointment of the vice-chancellor, comprising three nominees: A Sabu, nominated by the university senate; Eluvathingal D Jemmis, nominated by the chancellor; and Ravindra D Kulkarni, nominated by UGC chairman. Subsequently, on Nov 3, the chancellor issued another notification inviting applications for the vice-chancellor’s post, with Dec 4 as the last date for submission.
Advocate general K Gopalakrishna Kurup, appearing for the state, submitted that the constitution of the committee was not in accordance with the university statutes and the UGC regulations. It was pointed out that Sabu, the senate’s nominee, had written to the chancellor seeking to be relieved from the committee. The state further highlighted that Jemmis, the chancellor’s nominee and the convenor of the committee, currently serves as member of the governing body/governing council of St Thomas College (Autonomous), Thrissur, which is affiliated to Calicut University. According to the state, this violates Regulation 7.3(ii) of the UGC Regulations, which mandates that members of a search-cum-selection committee must not be connected in any manner with the University concerned or its affiliated colleges.
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