Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan refused to sign the Bill that seeks to remove the Governor from the post of chancellor of the universities in the state, passed by the Assembly.

The Governor has given assent to all bills other than the University Laws (Amendment) Bill that seeks to remove the Governor from the post of chancellor of State universities, passed by the state Assembly in its last session, which were sent to the Raj Bhavan.

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Raj Bhavan has informed that a decision on the bill will be taken after further examination of the matter.

Governor Khan has recently sought opinion of the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the legality of the Bill passed by the Kerala Assembly, and whether such a law would run counter to the UGC’s norms. He had also sought the legal opinion of the Raj Bhavan’s  standing counsel in the High Court on how to proceed in the case of the university  Bill.

Earlier, Khan had said he would not give his assent to the bill and would instead pass it on to the President of India  as he  did not want to sit in judgment over a piece of legislation that directly deals with his role.

He had also stated that the state government needs Central approval if it wants to bring a change in the existing law, as the subject is in the concurrent list

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 government shall appoint an academician of high repute or a person of eminence in any of the fields of science including agriculture and veterinary science, technology, medicine, social science, humanities, literature, art, culture, law or public administration as the Chancellor of the university,” says the bill.

The bill passed by the Assembly to curtail the Governor’s powers from the VC Selection Committee has also not been approved by the Governor. The bill 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.

Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan refused to sign the Bill that seeks to remove the Governor from the post of chancellor of the universities in the state, passed by the Assembly.

The Governor has given assent to all bills other than the University Laws (Amendment) Bill that seeks to remove the Governor from the post of chancellor of State universities, passed by the state Assembly in its last session, which were sent to the Raj Bhavan.

Raj Bhavan has informed that a decision on the bill will be taken after further examination of the matter.

Governor Khan has recently sought opinion of the University Grants Commission (UGC) on the legality of the Bill passed by the Kerala Assembly, and whether such a law would run counter to the UGC’s norms. He had also sought the legal opinion of the Raj Bhavan’s  standing counsel in the High Court on how to proceed in the case of the university  Bill.

Earlier, Khan had said he would not give his assent to the bill and would instead pass it on to the President of India  as he  did not want to sit in judgment over a piece of legislation that directly deals with his role.

He had also stated that the state government needs Central approval if it wants to bring a change in the existing law, as the subject is in the concurrent list

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 government shall appoint an academician of high repute or a person of eminence in any of the fields of science including agriculture and veterinary science, technology, medicine, social science, humanities, literature, art, culture, law or public administration as the Chancellor of the university,” says the bill.

The bill passed by the Assembly to curtail the Governor’s powers from the VC Selection Committee has also not been approved by the Governor. The bill 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.