The Hindu : Front Page : New turn to row over appointment of farm university Vice-Chancellor

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Friday, Mar 23, 2007
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New turn to row over appointment of farm university Vice-Chancellor

Girish Menon

Governor signs file relating to appointment, but sends it back to Chief Minister

Thiruvananthapuram: The State Government has been saddled with a file sent by Governor R.L. Bhatia relating to the appointment of Kerala Agricultural University Vice-Chancellor. The Governor, who is also Chancellor of the university, has signed the file relating to the appointment of K.R. Vishwambaran as Vice-Chancellor, but instead of issuing the order of appointment as Chancellor as per the varsity law, sent it to the Chief Minister for further action.

A senior Government official said there was confusion regarding the "procedures" following the Governor's unusual action. According to Section 27 (2) of the Kerala Agricultural University Act, the Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed by the Chancellor on the recommendation of the selection committee set up for this purpose. The section also states that the Chancellor may accept the opinion of the majority of panel members and that if the selection committee fails to make a suggestion, the Chancellor shall be free to make the appointment on the advice of the Government.

No consensus

As per this clause, it is for the Governor to issue the notification appointing the Vice-Chancellor. But the Governor chose to send the file to the Chief Minister, apparently reluctant to be part of a controversy that might have legal implications.

The appointment of KAU Vice-Chancellor landed in a controversy when the selection panel failed to come up with a unanimous choice for the post. All the three members recommended different names, forcing the Governor to return the file suggesting that it would be better to nominate an agriculture scientist as per the model Act of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research. The Government then exercised its powers to nominate a candidate and subsequently the Cabinet decided to recommend Mr. Vishwambaran's name. The Governor signed the file on the basis of the Cabinet decision.

According to sources, the Governor's action is quite unusual. In all such previous appointments, the Raj Bhavan has issued the necessary communiqué.

The Chief Minister has now referred the file to the Chief Secretary, who, in turn, has sent it to the Law Secretary. The latter has sent the file back to the Agriculture Secretary. It is not clear what opinion the Law Secretary has given, but the very fact that the file was sent to the Government for further action gives the entire issue a new dimension.

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