HC quashes Kerala Governor’s nominations to KU Senate
Court directs Chancellor to make fresh nominations within six weeks; says there is no unbridled power with Chancellor; it also dismisses plea against nomination of govt. representatives to Senate
The Kerala High Court on Tuesday quashed four nominations made by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, Chancellor of State universities, to the Senate of Kerala University (KU).
The court issued the order on a petition led by Arunima Ashok and another student challenging the order nominating a thirdsemester History degree student and a fth-semester student of Bachelor of Computer Application to the Senate. Justice Muhammed Nias C.P. directed the Chancellor to make fresh nominations considering the petitioners’ claims within six weeks.
The court said there is no unbridled power vested with the Chancellor while making the nominations in terms of the statutory provisions. The court also quashed the Chancellor’s order nominating two fthsemester students under the category of students having outstanding ability in ne arts and sports, respectively.
The court also dismissed a petition led by K.N. Madhusudanan Pillai of Thiruvananthapuram challenging the nomination of Muralidharan Pillai, Shiju Khan J.S. and R. Rajesh as government representatives to the Senate.
Big blow
Higher Education Minister R. Bindu said the court order annulling the nominations was a “signicant blow to his [Mr. Khan’s] efforts to impede the modernisation of higher education in the State”.
Ms. Bindu said the Governor was mandated by his responsibility to nominate four persons, who had excelled in the elds of humanities, science, arts and sports. However, Mr. Khan opted to nominate four individuals outside the recommended panel provided by the university.
CPI(M) State secretary M.V. Govindan said the verdict had exposed Sangh Parivar eorts to destabilise the government through the Governor. The judgment has dealt a severe blow to the UDF, BJP, and a section of the media that supported the Governor’s actions.