Kerala Governor trying to 'saffronise' universities in state: Minister Bindu

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Thursday alleged that big attempts were being made by Governor Arif Mohammed Khan, as Chancellor of Universities in the state, to 'saffronise' the varsities.

The allegation by the minister was made while referring to the recent Kerala High Court order quashing the nominations made by Khan to the senate of the University of Kerala and directing him to select fresh nominees within a period of six weeks.

Bindu welcomed the High Court's decision and claimed that the students nominated by the Chancellor did not have an outstanding academic record and neither did they excel in the fields of arts, science, sports or humanities. "Instead, they were nominated as they were members of the ABVP," she alleged.

The minister said that many of Khan's interventions have resulted in 'sullying' the higher education in the state.

She further contended that there were court verdicts that prove that many of his interventions were not correct.

"There have been big attempts at saffronisation of the universities by the Chancellor," she alleged.

While quashing the nominations made by Khan, the court had observed that "there is no unbridled power vested with the Chancellor while making the nominations in terms of the statutory provisions".

"An unguided, unfettered and unbridled power is foreign to the exercise of any power, constitutional or statutory. It is trite that even in the exercise of discretionary power, the requirements of reasonableness, rationality, impartiality, fairness and equity are inherent to such exercise and can never be according to any private opinion.

"Under such circumstances, the nominations made (by the Chancellor) are to be interfered with and accordingly, they are quashed," the court had said.