Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had accepted the unanimous decision of a selection committee to appoint K. Riji John as Vice Chancellor of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS), a statement submitted at the Kerala High Court has revealed.
The document has emerged against the backdrop of Mr. Khan, the Chancellor of State Universities, faulting another selection committee, which was constituted for identifying a Vice Chancellor for the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, for recommending a sole name and not a panel of nominees as mandated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The statement, accessed by The Hindu, had been submitted by M.U. Vijayalakshmi, the standing counsel for the Chancellor, on his behalf on November 18. The Chancellor is the first respondent in a writ petition filed by K.K. Vijayan who challenged the appointment of Dr. John as Vice Chancellor.
The selection committee was chaired by State Planning Board vice chairman V.K. Ramachandran, who was the government’s nominee. It had also comprised former Pro Vice Chancellor of Kerala University J. Prabhash and Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Deputy Director General (Fisheries Science) J.K. Jena as the nominees of the KUFOS governing council and the ICAR Director General respectively.
The panel which met on January 22 to interact with nine shortlisted candidates unanimously recommended Dr. John for the post. He was subsequently appointed the Vice Chancellor by the Chancellor the next day.
“This (the appointment) is in conformity with the statutory provision stipulating that the Vice Chancellor shall be appointed by the Chancellor on the advice of the selection committee,” the Governor’s statement said.
Curiously, in his letter sent to the Chief Minister on December 8 that has triggered a major controversy, Mr. Khan said the selection committee headed by Prof. Ramachandran recommended only a single name for appointment as Vice Chancellor of the Sanskrit university. “This recommendation is in total violation of the UGC guidelines, which require the selection committee to recommend a panel of three names.” he stated.
While interacting with the media in New Delhi, the Chancellor had opined the committee which apparently found a majority of candidates to be unfit for the position should have ideally recommended him to re-advertise the post.
The UGC regulations mandate the selection of Vice Chancellor should be through proper identification of a panel of 3-5 names by a search committee.
