CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu Governor still wields considerable power with respect to state universities, though a recent Supreme Court ruling stripped the governor of the authority to appoint Vice-Chancellors to 18 of 20 state-run universities. In a landmark ruling a week ago, the Supreme Court invoked its plenary powers under Article 142 to grant ‘deemed assent’ to 10 amendment bills brought by the DMK government.
Though the Vice-Chancellors will henceforth be appointed by the state government under the new amendments, a closer examination of the amendments and original Acts of the universities reveals that the Governor-Chancellor still retains various powers, including the authority to veto the decisions of universities’ governing bodies such as Senate and Syndicate.
Incidentally, Governor Ravi vetoed the decisions of the Madurai Kamaraj University’s Syndicate and Senate to confer honorary doctorate on freedom fighter and communist leader N Sankaraiah on November 2, 2023. For the 101-year-old Sankaraiah, who passed away just 13 days later, this could have been his last public honour and perhaps a wish fulfilled as his arrest by the British Raj in 1941 in his final college year prevented him from graduating.
The Governor also remains the Chancellor of 20 of Tamil Nadu’s 22 state-run universities.
Governor can continue to examine university records, annul decisions
The exceptions are the Tamil Nadu National Law University, where the Madras High Court’s Chief Justice serves as Chancellor, and the Dr J Jayalalithaa Music and Fine Arts University, where the CM holds the position. Of these 20, 13 fall under the higher education department, while the rest are governed by departments like health, agriculture, and law. Among them, the posts of Vice-Chancellors are vacant in 12 universities.
The 10 bills approved by the Supreme Court covered 18 of these universities. The remaining two are the Tamil Nadu Physical Education and Sports University and the University of Madras. While no amendment bill has been introduced for the former, the bill to amend the University of Madras Act is pending with the President.
Interestingly, though the 10 bills removed the governor’s authority to appoint V-Cs in 18 universities, he retains the power to nominate a representative to the search committees for V-C selection in at least 10 universities. Of all the universities where the governor previously had a nominee in the V-C search committee, this power was only removed in the Tamil Nadu Agricultural University and the Tamil Nadu Veterinary and Animal Sciences University. It remains unclear why similar amendments were not made for most other universities.
While the governor’s nominee may not be able to sway the selection process given the government’s majority in search panels, some academics wondered what would happen if the governor declines to send a nominee. This may again result in a deadlock in appointing the V-Cs, they said. Another crucial power the Governor-Chancellor retained is the power to call for and examine records of any university officer or authority, modify their decisions, or even annul them. In some universities, the governor can even order inspections or inquiries into administrative or academic matters, with institutions required to respond to his findings and act on recommendations within a stipulated time.
The governor also has the final say in disputes over elections and nominations to university bodies in many universities and retains the power to nominate persons to Syndicates, Senates, and Academic Councils.
E Balagurusamy, former V-C of Anna University, said that retaining such powers could affect the functioning of the universities if disagreements arise between the Governor and V-Cs. He opined that the government should have made the CM the Chancellor of all universities as in states like West Bengal. Officials from the higher education department could not be reached for further clarification on these issues.
Key powers retained by Governor
1. Appoint nominees to V-C search committees in at least 10 universities
2. Approve or withhold decisions of governing bodies in at least 16 varsities
3. Review records
4. Order inquiries and inspections into university matters
5. Nominate members to syndicate, senate, and academic council
6. Final say on disputes in elections and nominations to university bodies
