Kochi: Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Monday said the state government does not have the power to remove him as the chancellor of the state universities.
He said that any such move will be against the national consensus.
"A governor's position as the ex-officio chancellor is not created because of any sweet will of any state government. Even before the Kerala state was formed in 1956, the governor was the chancellor of state universities. So it is not a favour done by the state government," he told reporters in Kochi.
"This is something on which national consensus was formed. And a national convention was evolved that the governor shall be the chancellor of state universities, so as to safeguard the autonomy of the state universities and there is no executive interference in their functioning," he said.
When asked about the ordinance the state Assembly passed to remove the governor as the chancellor, Khan said that such moves are beyond the state's power. "They can try, but they can't break the national convention...They are upset with the judicial verdict. And they want to divert the attention to the governor. This (removal of chancellor) will not happen."
Khan said that the High Court verdict on Priya Varghese was not a personal vindication for him.
"I have said this multiple times that I am not looking for personal vindication. It was not a personal fight," he said.
"My duty is to ensure that the law of the land is upheld. My job is to see that the universities are free from executive interference in universities. It is my job to see that underqualified and unqualified people are not appointed to various posts in the universities just because they are related to political parties and their bosses. As long as I am here, I will not allow that," Khan said.
"No person is importnat. But common people must feel that there is equality before the law and protection before the law. If she is a meritorious candidate, she should be appointed to any post," he said without naming Priya.
Khan, as the chancellor of state universities, had cancelled Priya's appointment at Kannur University citing nepotism. In a recent order, HC said she did not possess enough qualifications to be appointed as an associate professor in the Malayalam department.
He said that he will look into whether APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University VC in-charge Ciza Thomas has been prevented from carrying out her duties.
"If she is obstructed from performing her duty, it is a clear criminal offence and we will have to take note of that," he said.
Khan appointed Ciza to the tech varsity disregarding the government's stand that the pro-vice chancellor of the university ought to have been given the charge.
