In an unprecedented move, Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan has asked the vice-chancellors of nine universities in Kerala to tender their resignations in less than 24 hours.

In a swift countermove, the LDF government has issued an instruction asking all the affected VCs to stay put, to defy the Governor's order.

The VCs have been asked to put in their papers before 11.30 a.m. on Monday, October 24. The Governor's diktat comes minutes after the LDF announced a series of mass agitations against him.

Two of the VCs are already on the way out: Kerala University vice-chancellor V P Mahadevan Pillai will retire on October 24 and A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University VC M S Rajashree's appointment had been annulled by the Supreme Court.

The other seven universities whose VCs have been asked to put in their papers are: Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kannur University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, University of Calicut and Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University. Interestingly, some of the VC appointments like Kannur, Malayalam and Fisheries had Khan's approval.

A tweet from the Governor's office said that his decision was based on the October 21 order of the Supreme Court that set aside the appointment of M S Rajashree as the VC of the Technological University.

The apex court had said that the search committee formed to pick the VC was not properly constituted. Further, there was just one name for the Chancellor to pick from, instead as per law a panel of names.

The Court had also concurred with the petitioner that Rajashree's appointment violated the UGC Regulations. The search committee had a nominee of the Kerala Higher Education Council, a provision not in the UGC Regulations.

The apex court had held that if a state law came into conflict with a central law, in this case, the UGC regulations, the central law would prevail.

Sources in the Governor's office said that the VC appointment in all the universities have been made violating UGC Regulations.

And in the case of at least five universities - MG, Kannur, Sanskrit, Fisheries and Malayalam - the search committee had provided just one name, instead of a panel of three or five, to the Chancellor.  

Kannur VC won't resign
Kannur VC Gopinath Ravindran said he would defy the order. He said a Chancellor could ask for resignation only in the case of financial appropriation and misbehaviour. "And even in this case, the person should be first given the chance to state his case, and then an enquiry has to be conducted," Ravindran said.

He said he would think of further proceedings after the Raj Bhavan makes its first move. 'Let's see what they will do if I don't tender my resignation," he said. The VC also said that an administrative crisis could be precipitated. "They will have to quickly appoint an acting VC," he said.