Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has refuted insinuations that it was at his behest that higher education minister R Bindu recommended the re-appointment of Gopinath Raveendran as vice chancellor of Kannur University.
"This is a gross distortion of facts," an official release from the Raj Bhavan on Thursday said. "The move was initiated by the Chief Minister and the Higher Education minister," the Raj Bhavan communique said.
There were reports that the higher education minister recommended Gopinath Raveendran for reappointment after the Governor's principal secretary Devendra Kumar Dhodawat wrote a letter to additional chief secretary V Venu on November 22, 2021, asking the government to send a recommendation for the reappointment of Raveendran.
The Raj Bhavan's statement, to demonstrate the pressure put on the Governor by the Chief Minister's office, laid down the chronology of events that led to the Governor's principal secretary's communication with the additional chief secretary.
Arrival of the CM's man
The tenure of the Vice Chancellor, Kannur University was to end on November 23, 2021. By then, through a notification issued on October 27, a selection committee had been formed to select and appoint a new Vice Chancellor. The additional chief secretary, Higher Education Department, had also issued a notification on November 1 to invite the applications to the post of the Vice Chancellor.
"While this process was on, on November 21, as deputed by Chief Minister, K.K. Raveendranath, Legal Adviser to the Chief Minister, met the Governor at Kerala Raj Bhavan at 11.30 am. He conveyed to the Governor, the Government’s desire to reappoint Dr Gopinath Raveendran as Vice Chancellor and informed that a formal request to this effect from the Minister for Higher Education was on the way to Raj Bhavan," the statement said.
Unsigned opinion piece
The statement said the Governor had a different view on the matter. He informed the Chief Minister's legal adviser that the proposal "appeared legally untenable since the due process of selection was already in motion".
The legal adviser in return assured the Governor that the Government had examined the matter in detail and found that the request was legally sound. He also produced some "typed papers" saying it was the legal advice. But this was unsigned and, therefore, the governor enquired about its source.
The Chief Minister's man said it was the opinion of the Advocate General of Kerala. The Governor said that the opinion without the AG's signature was of no significance. "To this, the Legal Advisor said that he will produce the legal opinion bearing the signature and seal of the Advocate General without delay," the statement said.
By this time, as stated by the CM's adviser, a letter written by higher education minister R. Bindu, extolling the virtues of Raveendran, reached Raj Bhavan. The minister also wanted the notifications issued for the selection of a new VC annulled.
CM applies legal pressure
The next day, on November 22, the Officer on Special Duty to the Chief Minister, R Mohan, and the legal adviser met the Governor and repeated their request. They also submitted the signed legal opinion of the AG which was addressed to the Additional Chief Secretary, Higher Education Department.
"The eight-page opinion of the AG says that there was no legal bar in reappointing Gopinath Raveendran as Vice Chancellor, Kannur University and that the age bar of 60 years fixed in the Kannur University Act, in as much as the same is contrary to the UGC Regulations, is without the authority of law and as such, inapplicable," the Raj Bhavan communique said.
The AG's opinion essentially said it was fine to cancel the notification for appointing a Search Committee for identifying the new VC and permit the Pro-Chancellor (higher education minister) to submit the necessary proposal for the re-appointment of the incumbent for a further continuous term of four years.
This opinion was also forwarded separately to Kerala Raj Bhavan by the higher education minister on that day itself (November 22).
"In the light of the legal opinion thus received from the Advocate General, the file was processed and the Governor agreed to accept the proposal of the Higher Education Minister," the Raj Bhavan statement said.
Governor yields
It was after this, by 4.30 p.m. on November 22, that the Governor's principal secretary wrote to the additional chief secretary asking him to withdraw the October 27 notification and “to permit the State Government to submit the necessary proposal for the reappointment of the present incumbent in the post of Vice Chancellor Kannur University”.
At 10.10 pm on the same day, Raj Bhavan received the next letter from the higher education minister informing that “steps have been taken to withdraw notification inviting applications” and that as Pro Chancellor, she was proposing the reappointment of Gopinath Raveendran, the incumbent Vice Chancellor.
Accordingly, Raj Bhavan issued the notification of reappointment on November 23.