Arif Mohammed Khan, the governor of Kerala, defended his order asking the vice chancellors (VCs) of nine state universities to quit by saying he was merely offering an honourable solution for them.
On Monday, when speaking to the media at Raj Bhavan, he reaffirmed that he was merely attempting to enforce the Supreme Court’s ruling that any VC selection process that was contrary to University Grants Commission (UGC) standards would be null and void from the beginning (having no legal effect from inception).
‘Vice chancellors were never disparaged in any way by the SC order. Even in the case of the VC of the Technical University, the criticism was directed at the selection procedure rather than the candidate. In actuality, the VC has been performing its duties fairly effectively. In order for the selection process to be restarted, I was just offering them an honourable way out by asking them to present their resignation,’ the governor explained.
He offered his condolences to ‘two or three vice-chancellors,’ whom he believed to be great at their jobs. However, the SC’s order does not discriminate against any of the current lot, thus they are welcome to reapply for the position.
He further highlighted that the vice-chancellors had been served with show cause notices since they had declined to properly resign from their positions. ‘They have until November 3, and if their argument is strong, I could even be open to considering it,’ he continued.
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