The setting aside of the appointment of P.P. Chellathurai as the Vice-Chancellor of the Madurai Kamaraj University by the Madras High Court means he cannot continue in office any more, Higher Education Secretary Sunil Paliwal made it clear on Saturday.
Responding to questions from the media on whether Mr. Chelladurai had stepped down, Mr. Paliwal said unless an appeal was made in the Supreme Court and it decided in his favour, the V-C could not continue in the post.
On Saturday, he participated in the Syndicate meeting for the first time after the High Court set aside his appointment. A three-member Convener’s Committee (CC) to take control of MKU’s administration was constituted during the meeting.
S.S. Poovalingam, Secretary, Law Department, and an ex-officio member of MKU’s Syndicate will be the convener of CC. The other two members are N.S. Santhosh Kumar, Director of Legal Studies and an ex-officio member of Syndicate, and M. Ramakrishnan, Syndicate member and Head of Department of Computer Applications at MKU.
Responding to a question whether MKU would pay for Mr. Chellathurai’s legal expenses in the case, a concern raised by section of academicians and activists, Mr. Paliwal said his own view was that he must fight the case in his personal capacity. “However, it is for the CC to decide now,” he said.
The Syndicate also selected C. Thangamuthu, former Vice-Chancellor of Bharathidasan University, as its nominee to the Vice-Chancellor Search Committee. Mr. Paliwal said the Syndicate nominee was chosen as per the High Court’s direction to form a Search Committee to choose a new VC.
Decision welcomed
Organisations like Save MKU Coalition, People’s Rights Protection Centre (PRPC) and Tamil Nadu Federation of Universities' Faculty Associations (TANFUFA) welcomed the move.
R. Murali, Secretary, Save MKU Coalition, said the Governor’s office must not delay the appointment of its nominee to the VC Search Committee and expedite the process of selecting a new V-C. “Mr. Chellathurai must also vacate the VC’s bungalow in MKU’s premises as his presence in the campus can influence the administration,” he said.
