Election to KUFOS council sparks row

Violation of statute by returning officer alleged

October 18, 2016 12:00 am | Updated December 01, 2016 06:33 pm IST - KOCHI:

The election to the governing council (GC) of the Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies (KUFOS) has run into a controversy with two defeated candidates challenging the election process.

V. Malika and B. Manoj Kumar, Associate Professors, have challenged the counting of votes and approached the Kerala Governor and the Vice Chancellor of the University.

A section of the teaching faculty of the university also complained that some of the key functions of the university, including policy decisions and recruitment of teachers, were hampered in the absence of a full-fledged GC, which is the decision-making forum of the institution.

Incidentally, the latest round of election to the GC was held on October 1 for electing the representatives from the constituency of teachers. Earlier, an election was held on February 20 to complete the tenure of the first GC, which was a nominated one. Fresh election was warranted as the term of the elected members expired within a few months.

‘Provisions violated’

The two teachers pointed out that the returning officer arbitrarily changed the method of counting of votes and thus violated the provisions of the university statutes.

In their complaint, Mr. Manoj and Ms. Malika said the returning officer completely overturned the provisions of the KUFOS statutes regarding the counting of votes, hardly 48 hours before the election. The returning officer also ordered, they complained, that a quota system would be followed for counting of votes.

“Any act of changing the stipulations in the statute with respect to election appears to be arbitrary, illegal and inconsistent with the precedents followed in the university. Hence the action of the returning officer is ultra vires of the KUFOS Act or statute,” they contended.

VC’s stand

A. Ramachandran, Vice Chancellor, said the counting of votes was held as stipulated in the university statute. The procedure adopted for voting was akin to what was followed in Rajya Sabha, he said.

On the constitution of the GC, Dr. Ramachandran said the list of elected representatives was communicated to the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the University, for notification. A new GC would come into force when it is notified by the Chancellor.

The VC said the functioning of the university was progressing unobstructed. The last meeting of the GC had ratified the decisions taken by the university earlier, he said.

The procedure adopted for voting was akin to what was followed in

Rajya Sabha, says VC

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