Four days after the Kerala cabinet decided to bring in an ordinance to remove the Governor Arif Mohammed Khan as chancellor of the universities in the state, the ordinance was sent to the governor for his assent.

Two sets of copies of the ordinance reached the Raj Bhavan on Saturday morning that envisaged the removal of the governor from the post of chancellor of 14 universities.

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A detailed note describing the circumstances under which the ordinance should be promulgated is also attached with the file given to the governor. The note contains details as per Kerala Government Business Rules. It was on Wednesday that the state cabinet took a decision to this effect.

The undue delay in sending the ordinance to the governor had sparked speculations that the government might not send it to the governor since he (the governor) has earlier stated that once the ordinance reaches him, he will send it to the President as he didn’t like to sit in judgment on his own cause.

If the ordinance is referred to the President, a decision on it will be delayed. In such a situation, some legal experts say that the government will not be able to bring a bill in the Assembly as the Ordinance on the same matter is before the president.  However, the government is exploring the possibility of bringing a Bill in the matter and passing the legislation after convening the Assembly.

The legal advice received by the government in this regard is that even if the ordinance is under the consideration of the President, there is no obstacle to introducing and passing a bill in the Assembly.

State Law Minister P Rajeeve contended that there’s no legal hindrance for the government to bring in legislation in the Assembly, even if the ordinance is under consideration of the President.

The governor is not in Thiruvananthapuram at present. He left for Thiruvalla on Saturday morning to attend the wedding ceremony of Chief Secretary VP Joy’s daughter. From there, he will go to Delhi via Kochi. He will return to the state only on the 20th of this month. It is not known whether the governor will take a decision on the ordinance while he is in Delhi through the e-file system.

In this connection, state Higher Education Minister R Bindu said that Governor Arif Mohammed Khan should sign the ordinance as per the constitutional norms. She added that he should not see the ordinance as a personal attack against anyone.

“As per the constitutional norms, he is obliged to sign the ordinance,” she asserted airing an opinion that the governor should consider the ordinance with an open mind without viewing it as a move against him.