THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Pro-left Syndicate members of Kerala University have urged Kerala State Higher Education Council vice-chairperson Rajan Gurukkal to retract his statement blaming the Kerala University Syndicate for the current crisis in the university.
The Syndicate members said Gurukkal's aspersions on the Syndicate were not only erroneous but also lent unintended grist to the Sangh Parivar's mill.
In a statement on July 20, Gurukkal had said the Syndicate's ignorance of the Act and Statutes was the prime reason for the crisis. According to M Lenin Lal, pro-LDF syndicate member, Gurukkal's accusation of statutory violations by the Kerala University Syndicate is wholly unfounded.
The real flashpoint lies in the overreach of Vice-Chancellor-in-Charge Mohanan Kunnummal.
On July 2, Kunnummal suspended Registrar K.S. Anil Kumar for cancelling a private event at the Senate Hall, where a portrait of Bharat Mata, adorned with a saffron flag, was displayed in the presence of Governor Rajendra Arlekar.
Citing Section 10(13) of the Kerala University Act, Kunnummal claimed an emergency necessitated his decision. However, Section 10(14) explicitly restricts the Vice-Chancellor's authority to suspend officers above the rank of Deputy Registrar, such as the Registrar, a senior officer under Chapter III, Section 9.
Moreover, Kunnummal's failure to issue a notice and his delayed action taken a week after the event belies any claim of urgency. This was not governance but an arbitrary exercise of power. The Syndicate, vested with authority under the Kerala University Act of 1974, promptly rectified this action.
"Chapter VI, Statute 23(10), empowers the Syndicate to discipline university employees, including through suspension, after ensuring due process. The Kerala University First Statutes of 1977, Chapter 2, Statute 22, designate the Syndicate as the Registrar's appointing authority, granting it the prerogative to address serious irregularities through proper inquiry. By quashing Kunnummal's unauthorised suspension, the Syndicate acted squarely within its legal mandate, reinforcing democratic governance," Lenin Lal said.
According to pro-Left Syndicate members, Dr. Gurukkal's claim that Syndicate decisions lack validity without the Vice-Chancellor presiding is a legal fallacy.
Chapter 6, Statute 1(2), permits Syndicate members to elect a presiding officer in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor or Pro-Vice-Chancellor, they argued. On July 20, Gurukkal had stirred a hornet's nest by stating that in any university, the Syndicate is its executive body, chaired by the Vice Chancellor.
"Without the VC, the Syndicate has no legal or functional existence. However, many mistakenly see the Syndicate and the Vice Chancellor as separate entities. This statutory ignorance is the root-cause of the crisis of the Kerala University," Gurukkal had said.