Kochi: In a special sitting held on Monday, the Kerala High Court held that the nine Vice Chancellors of Universities in Kerala, who were asked by the Chancellor of the Universities (the Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammed Khan) could continue in their positions. The court in its order said that, they can continue till a final order is passed by the Chancellor/Governor against them on the basis of the show-cause notice issued by the Chancellor to them today.
The Court expressed reservations regarding the Governor's communication issued on October 23 which asked the VCs to resign today by 11 AM. The Court said that nobody can be asked to resign. "It does not require much judgments to say no one can be asked to tender resignation", Justice Devan Ramachandran noted in the order. The bench took note of the fact the Chancellor issued show-cause notices to the petitioners today. This means that the relevance of the directions issued by the Governor yesterday is lost and that the Vice Chancellors are still in service.
The Court also wondered how the Governor could have said that the Vice Chancellors will cease to be in office with effect from October 22 if he is of the opinion that their appointments were void ab-initio.
The Court added that a proper enquiry and thought ought to have been invested, particularly when the petitioners had specific cases to their factual scenarios.
The Court has left open all the contentions of the parties, including the argument that the Governor has no jurisdiction to initiate the action. "The argument of the petitioners that the Chancellor cannot issue a show cause notice is also left open and all the remedies of the petitioners to even impugn the same are left open", the Court added in the order.
