P.M. Mubarak Pasha, the first Vice-Chancellor of Sree Narayana Guru Open University (SNGOU), has tendered his resignation to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan. The resignation letter was submitted to Raj Bhavan ahead of the hearings arranged for four Vice-Chancellors, including Dr. Pasha, on Saturday to determine the legality of their appointments following a Kerala High Court directive.
While Dr. Pasha has expressed willingness to step down from the position with nearly eight months left in his tenure, the Governor, who is also the Chancellor, is yet to accept the resignation, official sources said.
The hearings were conducted for the Vice-Chancellors of SNGOU, Digital University Kerala (DUK), Calicut University, and Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit to show cause their legal right to hold their offices and why their appointments should not be declared illegal and void.
Notices to 11 V-Cs
Raj Bhavan had issued the show-cause notices to 11 Vice-Chancellors, including the four in question, in October 2022 against the backdrop of a Supreme Court judgment that annulled the appointment of M.S. Rajasree as Vice-Chancellor of A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University. The other seven Vice-Chancellors have completed their tenures since.
While considering appeals filed by the four Vice-Chancellors against the notices, the High Court ruled that the final orders passed by the Chancellor will come into effect only after 10 days (from the passing of the orders) to provide them adequate time to challenge any adverse outcome.
While Dr. Pasha abstained from the hearing, DUK Vice-Chancellor Saji Gopinath appeared in person. Calicut University Vice-Chancellor M.K. Jayaraj and Sanskrit University M.V. Narayanan were represented by their lawyers. The counsel for the latter participated through the virtual mode.
UGC flags violations
University Grants Commission (UGC) officials and the Additional Chief Secretary to the Governor were also present. In an indication of what the future holds for the three Vice-Chancellors (barring Dr. Pasha), the UGC officials flagged the violations in their appointments during the meeting, sources said.
In the case of Dr. Jayaraj’s appointment, the constitution of the search-cum-selection committee that included the Chief Secretary among other members is alleged to have flouted UGC norms. Dr. Narayanan’s was the sole name to be proposed by the search committee for appointment as Sanskrit University Vice-Chancellor and the process apparently contravened the requirement for a panel of short-listed candidates.
Both Dr. Pasha and Dr. Gopinath, the first Vice-Chancellors of SNGOU and DUK respectively, were directly appointed by the State government without the creation of search-cum-selection committees.
