Kerala Open varsity VC quits amid controversy

KOCHI: In an unexpected development, Vicechancellor of the Sree Narayanaguru Open University, Dr PM Mubarak Pasha submited his resignation while failing to atend a hearing scheduled by Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, who is also the Chancellor of universities in the state.

Governor, who is at loggerheads with the Let Democratic Front (LDF) government led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on a number of issues, had summoned the Vice-chancellors of Calicut, Sanskrit, Digital and Open varsities, who, according to Khan, were appointed in violation of UGC (University Grants Commission) rules, for a hearing on Saturday.

While three other VCS appeared for the hearing either in person or through counsels, Pasha skipped the hearing and no advocate representing him appeared before the Governor.

Raj Bhavan sources said Pasha had submitted his resignation two days before and the Governor has not yet accepted the same.

The resignation comes ater the Governor asked the VCS of seven universities to put in their papers ater the Supreme Court annulled the appointment of Abdul Kalam Technological University VC MS Rajashree in 2022.

But the LDF government asked the VCS to continue in office with the court intervening in the issue stating that they should be given a chance to present their case.

Accordingly, the Raj Bhavan held the hearing as per the directive of the High Court which had asked four Vice-chancellors to appear before the Governor.

The hearing of the Vice-chancellors of Calicut, Sanskrit and Digital universities took place as scheduled, during which UGC representatives said they (VCS) could not continue in their posts considering the Supreme Court judgment.

According to the Governor, all the VCS were appointed by flouting rules stipulated by UGC. Their fate will be known in coming days. The Governor is currently in Chennai and will return to state capital Trivandrum on Sunday night. He is expected to decide on the issue on Monday.

While Vice-chancellor of Digital University Dr Saji Gopinath personally appeared for the hearing, Calicut University Vice-chancellor Dr MK Jayarajan was represented by his advocate.

At the same time, the advocate of Sanskrit University VC Dr TK Narayanan appeared online. All three Vice-chancellors argued at the hearing that they were appointed as per the rules.

The hearing was conducted based on a directive of the Kerala High Court.