Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan has received legal advice suggesting sending of the bill that seeks to remove the governor from the post of chancellor of the universities in the state to the President of India.

Raj Bhavan’s standing counsel at the Kerala High Court Gopakumaran Nair has advised Arif Mohammed Khan to send the bill passed by the state Assembly on 13 December to the President. It is also learnt that the governor has been advised by the counsel against taking a decision on the bill by himself as it would directly affect the governor as an individual.

If it is sent to the President, the decision on the bill will get delayed. With this, the government’s move to remove the governor from the post of chancellor may not see any immediate results.

Arif Mohammed Khan has, on Thursday, had already given an indication that he would send the bill to the president of India for consideration. Now that he is equipped with legal advice to this effect, it is expected of him to take a decision on the basis of the advice.

However, it is not known whether the governor will seek further legal opinion on the matter from constitution experts.

The Kerala Assembly, on 13 December, passed the University Laws (Amendment) Bill,2022 that amends laws relating to the governance of state universities and removes the Governor as the Chancellor of universities in the state.  The Bill seeks to amend eight Acts relating to different universities to remove the Governor as the ex-officio Chancellor of the universities and to empower the state government to appoint a Chancellor.

The bill that seeks to curtail the governor’s powers in the V-C Selection Committee has also not been approved by the Khan and has been pending with the Raj Bhavan since August 2022. The bill, passed by the Assembly, proposes to effectively give the government the right to select vice-chancellors in the universities in the state.

Apart from the university bills, the governor has not approved the Lokayukta amendment Bill, which curtails the powers of the anti-corruption body, passed by the Assembly in August.