Will send Kerala govt’s ordinance to President, says Governor; is it legally tenable?

The bitter row between the Kerala Governor and Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government has taken a fresh turn with the latter proposing an ordinance to remove the former from the position of Chancellor of universities in the state. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammad Khan is not likely to promulgate the proposed ordinance, but is all set to send it to President Droupadi Murmu for assent. 

In one-to-one interviews with select TV channels, Khan made his position clear. In fact, he conveyed his stand to the media shortly after the cabinet decision — to bring in an ordinance to appoint educational experts as chancellors to each one of the 14 universities in the state — was announced.

“Since the ordinance is against me, I cannot judge it. I cannot be my own judge. So, I will send it to the President,” Khan told a news channel.

Constitutionally tenable?

Constitutional experts, however, are sceptical over the Governor’s statement. Is it constitutionally tenable? “Article 213 of the Constitution provides specific situations in which a Governor is entitled to send an ordinance to the President. I don’t think the proposed ordinance falls in any of them,” PDT Achary, former Lok Sabha secretary general, told The Federal.

Further, he explained: “If an ordinance/bill is found to be repugnant to a Central legislation, the Governor can send it to the examination of the President. (For instance) if a state government is proposing additional tax on goods transported in interstate commerce through an ordinance that also can be sent to the President.”

Since the position of the Chancellor of a university is created by virtue of a statute passed by the legislative assembly, it is amenable to change, said Achary. “The state government has the powers to amend the law and to remove the Governor from the position of the Chancellor,” he explained to The Federal.

Also read: Kerala to bring in ordinance to remove Governor as Chancellor of varsities

According to experts, the argument that the removal of the Chancellor by the state government will go against UGC regulations is also wrong. “The UGC Act (of 1956) does not expressly mention about the appointment/removal of the Chancellor or vice-chancellor, hence the question of repugnancy (with the central law) does not arise,” pointed out Achary. He also alleged that the Governor is acting like an Opposition leader rather than the head of the state.

Governor’s legal team quits

Meanwhile, the Governor, instead of calling a press conference, chose to talk to TV channels individually. There was widespread protest against him for his alleged discriminating against two TV channels. The reporters of Kairali TV and Media One were summarily asked to leave on November 7 despite getting a written approval from Raj Bhavan to participate in the press conference.

On November 8, both the standing counsel and the legal advisor of the Governor (in the Kerala High Court) quit their respective positions. K Jaju Babu, senior advocate who has been the legal advisor to the Governor of Kerala since 2009, did not disclose the reasons for his decision to quit, but in the letter of resignation sent to the Governor, he said that “for reasons known to the Governor, the moment has come to vacate his position”.

Similarly, MU Vijayalakshmi, the standing counsel for the Chancellor, in her letter of resignation, said it was time for her to vacate the position “for reasons known to the Chancellor”.  On November 8, the counsel sought time for submitting the affidavit in the writ petitions submitted by the vice-chancellors challenging the show cause notice. Her resignation was submitted on the evening of the same day.

Also read: ‘Barge into Raj Bhavan if you have guts’: Governor Khan challenges LDF govt

The high court that granted time to the Chancellor’s counsel issued an instruction that no action should be taken against the vice-chancellors for the time being. It also said that the individual vice-chancellors are free to decide whether to take the call for a hearing in person with the Chancellor. Gopinath Ravindran, the vice-chancellor of Kannur University, formally informed the court that he had no plan to go for hearing in person.

Opposition against ordinance move

The Kerala Congress slammed the move to bring in the ordinance. “We are not supporting the Governor but the move will help the ruling party to appoint more party activists through the backdoor. We will oppose it in the Assembly,” said Opposition leader VD Satheesan.