Cabinet recommends Governor to convene Assembly session from Dec. 5

Arif Mohammed Khan is yet to decide on the ordinance seeking to remove him as the Chancellor of 14 universities; the Kerala Governor says since the ordinance concerns him, he is likely to send it to the President

Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan. File photo | Photo Credit: S. Mahinsha

The Cabinet has decided to recommend to Governor Arif Mohammed Khan that the seventh session of the 15th Kerala Legislative Assembly be convened from December 5.

Though the State Cabinet had sent the ordinance seeking to remove the Governor as the Chancellor of all 14 universities in the State to Mr. Khan for his consideration, he is yet to take a decision on it.

Also, the Governor has already hinted that since the ordinance concerns him, he was likely to send it to the President.

With it being more or less evident now that the Governor is unlikely to sign the ordinance seeking to remove him as Chancellor of the universities, the Left Democratic Front government is now attempting an alternative path of achieving the same by presenting it as a Bill before the Assembly.

The ordinance will in effect be meaningless if the government receives the assent from the Governor to convene the Assembly session.

Just as in the ordinance, the government through the Bill will be seeking to remove the clause from the University Rules that the Governor of the State shall be the ex-officio Chancellor of all universities in the State.

In seeking to remove the Governor as the Chancellor, the government has taken refuge in one of the recommendations of the Punchhi Commission in 2010 that the Governor should not be ‘burdened with positions and powers, which may expose the office to controversies or public criticism’.

The State Cabinet had thus recommended in the ordinance that the post of the Chancellor be assigned to distinguished persons with high academic credentials as it will also bring glory to the institutions of higher learning in the State. The same is expected to figure in the Bill the government is now trying to bring before the House.

Though the government can push through the Bill in the House, it will definitely need the final assent from the Governor before it can become the law and the possibility of another stalemate over it cannot be discounted.