Search committee: Kannur varsity's UDF senate members write to Guv seeking action against VC in-charge

Kannur: Sixteen pro-UDF senate members of Kannur University have written to the Chancellor Arif Mohammed Khan to review the video recording of the special meeting of the senate held on July 19, and take action against Vice-Chancellor in-charge Prof K K Saju for allegedly "misrepresenting facts in the minutes".

According to the third agenda, the special meeting convened on the direction of the Chancellor was to nominate an eminent person to the three-member search-cum-selection committee to appoint a regular VC in Kannur University.

The university has been without a regular VC since November 29, 2023, when the Supreme Court quashed the reappointment of Prof Gopinath Ravindran to the post because the government interfered in the selection.

The LDF senate members did not want to nominate a person to the search committee because the Kerala Legislature had amended the University's Act, expanding the search committee to five members and divesting the Governor of the Chancellor's post. But Governor Khan did not give his assent to the amendments and sent the bills to the president, who too, has withheld it. The Kerala government has approached the Supreme Court against the Governor for sending a state subject to the President.

The minutes of the Senate meeting said: "As the majority supported not to go ahead with the nomination under this agenda, the decision of the Senate is to not nominate a member to the search-cum-selection committee for recommending the panel of the appointment of the vice-chancellor."
However, the UDF members said the minutes were tampered with by the vice-chancellor, who was the chair of the meeting, and it did not capture what transpired in the session.

In the letter to the Governor, they said, senate member and Kannur district panchayat president Divya PP first tried to move a resolution against the third agenda. It was opposed by the UDF member Dr Shino P Jose because a new resolution could not be introduced without prior notice. "Divya consented to withdraw the resolution but demanded that the Chair withdraw the third agenda," the letter said. Under pressure, the Chair put the demand of Divya on voting and the third agenda was withdrawn, it said.

These events were not recorded in the minutes, the letter said. Instead, the minutes misrepresented the facts by saying the meeting voted to not nominate/ elect a member to the search committee, it said. "We have very serious objections against the ruling of the chair because he used his discretionary power (to put to voting the withdrawal of the third agenda) after opening the third agenda," the letter said.

The UDF senate members wrote to the Governor: "We would like to bring to your kind observation that only the third agenda is withdrawn with a lead that the particular agenda could be taken for consideration in any of the future Senate meetings with the initiative of the Chancellor and the Vice-Chancellor."

The Vice-Chancellor in charge should be imputed for this, considering the dubious behaviour of the Chair during the special meeting of the Senate, the letter said. To be sure, the Governor appointed Prof Saju as the VC in-charge on May 31.

The letter was signed by senate members Shino P Jose, MJ Mathew, Premachandran Keezhoth, Adv ER Vinod, Prajitha P, Muhammed Salih C, Mohammed Ashefas, Saji James Kannanthanam, Kochurani Augustine, KP Dineshan, Biju Ummer, Ashith Ashokan, Muhammed Haseeb TK, Soorya Alex, Farhana TP and Harsha Punchayil.