In a major setback to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, the nominations of four members to the Kerala University senate were quashed by the Kerala High Court on Monday, May 21. The list had become controversial due to allegations that the Governor included nominees affiliated to the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) linked to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) after removing names of students suggested by the university.
The court rejected the Governor’s contention that, as the Chancellor, making appointments to the senate was his discretion. “It is trite that there is no unbridled power vested with the Chancellor while making the nominations in terms of the statutory provisions. Any arbitrary use of power violates not only the rule of 'Equality' enshrined in Article 14 of the Constitution of India but also the rule of 'Discrimination' inbuilt in Article 16,” the court said.
The High Court was hearing two writ petitions filed under Section 17 of the Kerala University Act, 1974 in the category of 'Other Members' by four students, whose names were removed by the governor, affiliated to the Students Federation of India (SFI). They alleged that Arif Mohammed Khan did not follow the normal procedure for nominations and persons with no merit, as compared to them, were selected.
Section 17 of the Kerala University Act states that the Chancellor has the authority to nominate four students, each distinguished by their exceptional academic abilities in the fields of humanities, science, sports, and fine arts.
Students nominated by the Governor – Malavika Udayan (Fine Arts), Sudhi Sadan (Sports), Dhruvin SL (Science), and Abhishek D Nair (Humanities) – are all members of ABVP. The single bench, headed by Justice CP Muhammad Niyas, annulled the nomination of the four nominees and asked the Governor to submit the new list within six weeks.
“We are welcoming the court order; this is not only a legal but also a political setback for the Governor. He used his constitutional position politically and tried to implement the RSS agenda on the campuses in Kerala,” PM Arsho, SFI’s Kerala state secretary, told the media.
