Kerala is in the news over a bitter tussle between Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan. Not a day passes without ‘gunshots’ being fired from Raj Bhavan which are replied with a fusillade of missiles from the Chief Minister’s office, writes Kumar Chellappan
Kerala is in a state of turmoil. The distance between Raj Bhavan at Vellayambalam and Cliff House, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s fortified palatial mansion, has increased manifold over the last six months. Not a single day passes in the State without ‘gunshots’ being fired from Raj Bhavan which are replied with a fusillade of missiles from the CMO/A K G Centre (the imposing State Headquarters of the CPI(M) adjacent to the Kerala University office at the heart of the capital city. Last heard, the Kerala Government under Vijayan’s son-in-law Mohammed Riyaz are to stage a demonstration in front of Raj Bhavan on Tuesday against the alleged “high-handed” attitude of Governor Arif Mohammed Khan whom the Marxists describe as a “stooge” of the Sangh Parivar. There are reports that a former Home minister could join the siege of Raj Bhavan to add punch and spice to the event.
The State has never seen a situation like this though the Raj Bhavan had hosted the likes of V Viswanathan and N N Wanchoo (two widely respected and equally temperamental officers of the Indian Civil Service), P Sathasivam (former chief justice of India) and Sukhdev Singh Kang (another retired judge of the apex court). The only exception was Ram Dulari Sinha, appointed by the then Prime Minister Rajeev Gandhi and who held the Governorship from 1988 to 1990. The then chief minister E K Nayanar is reported to have shouted at her many times for delaying the Bills enacted by his government and sitting over the appointments made by the CPI(M) bosses to the universities as well as other quasi-judicial bodies.
Fortunately for Nayanar, with the change of Government in New Delhi in 1990, Sinha was called back and the V P Singh government appointed B Rachaiah, a political lightweight from Karnataka as Governor. Not many people would remember Rachaiah, who preferred to stay indoors and enjoy the salubrious environment of the Raj Bhavan. For that matter, most of the people do not remember the fact that V V Giri was the Governor of Kerala (1960-65) before he moved over to Delhi to take up the office of the vice president and then the President of India. Remember, Giri had occupied the Raj Bhavan when political shadow boxings between leaders like Pattam Thanu Pillai, R Shankar, P T Chacko were at their peak. Still, Giri managed to have an uneventful sojourn in Thiruvananthapuram except for his annual pilgrimage to Kottakkal Arya Vaidya Sala for the yearly Ayurvedic Rejuvenation Therapy, which he continued till he left the Rashtrapathi Bhavan.
Arif Mohammed Khan was a stranger to Kerala when he was appointed as Governor in 2019. Except for the people who followed the political unrest in New Delhi in the aftermath of the famous Supreme Court verdict in the Shah Bano Case. But Governor Khan made a lot of difference in the social sphere of the State. His visits to the houses of young ladies who were murdered/killed for dowry and the day-long fast he observed as a mark of respect to the young brides who lost their lives to the avarice of their in-laws made him a household name in the State. This Governor did not found solace and comfort in the opulence of Raj Bhavan. He interacted with people in all spheres of life.
Governor’s ties with Pinarayi Vijayan were never amenable, to say the least. Arif Mohammad Khan missed to opportunity to take a potshot at the Marxist government. The relation took a turn for the worse when the CPI(M) tried to extend the tenure of Kannur University Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran, a committed Leftist. Though Ravindran, a historian reached the age of superannuation in 2020, the CPI(M) as well as Vijayan were adamant that his services should be extended for reasons known only to them. What went wrong is that there were many academics in Kerala and in the CPI(M) itself who were eyeing the post. The question being asked is what was the contribution of Ravindran in his tenure as vice-chancellor. Kannur University continues stagnating day by day and it may require an administrator-par-excellence to turn it around.
The tradition in Kerala has been that the ruling party at Thiruvananthapuram would appoint its nominees as vice-chancellors and faculty members. Both the CPI(M) and Congress do it when they are in power. When Nayanar became the chief minister in 1987, the then LDF Government brought U R Ananthamurthy as vice-chancellor of Mahatma Gandhi University. Though Ananthamurthy made a fortune, the standard of the University went down the drain from which it is yet to recover. Whether it is CPI(M) or the Congress, the post of vice-chancellors is partitioned based on caste, community, and religion. Even if the BJP comes to power in the State (though unlikely for the next many years), the situation could be the same. There are any number of Sangh Parivar members and Swayamsevaks waiting in the queue for the top job though they could be light years behind the qualifying standards.
On October 21, the Supreme Court declared as null and void the appointment of M S Rajasree, vice chancellor of Kerala Technical University for lacking the qualifying standards specified by the University Grants Commission. The vice-chancellors of other universities too were appointed in the same pattern by the LDF Government. Though the Governor had questioned the appointments of these persons, the chief minister had managed to win over the Governor and got the appointment cleared. But the Supreme Court verdict gave the Governor a chance for atonement, and he issued a show cause notice to the nine vice-chancellors asking them to furnish a reply why their services should not be terminated. The vice-chancellors have approached the Kerala High Court which has asked the Governor not to take any action till their pleas are disposed of.
What annoyed the Governor, according to Raj Bhavan sources, is that the Government took him for a ride. Not only vice-chancellors but faculty members and non-teaching staff too were appointed based on their political leanings. The district secretaries of the CPI(M) are the ones entrusted with the task of nominating candidates acceptable to the party. The higher education sector in Kerala is in a state of a sham as Ph.D degrees are awarded based on the political leanings of the scholars. Spouses of four Marxist bigwigs were appointed as associate professors even though they did not meet the minimum qualifications mandated by the UGC. Nepotism is not the prerogative of the CPI(M) alone. The precedent in Kerala has been like that for the last five decades.
The general feeling among people outside the State is that Arif Mohammed Khan is out to dethrone the LDF Government from office to anoint a BJP-led Government at Thiruvananthapuram. Easier said than done! Even Lord Ananthapadmanabha, the presiding deity of Padmanabhaswamy Temple as well as the capital city would not be able to do that, at least for the next hundred years. Governor Khan is not a fool to venture out with such a mission in his mind. People also forget the S R Bommai V Union Of India case in which the apex court ruled that the Legislative Assembly is the real battlefield to test the majority enjoyed by the State Government.
The major mistake by the Governor was his decision to speak to the Kerala media about the discrepancies in the appointment of vice-chancellors and other faculty members. In the past, no Governors have spoken to the media in the State. Had he allowed the Marxist leaders including the Chief Minister a free run, they would have fallen into a trap.
The latest development is the ordinance prepared by the LDF Government stripping the Governor from the post of Chancellor in the universities. There was a time when the Governor would have signed on the dotted line as he had made it clear that he was ready to quit as Chancellor, but the chief minister pleaded with him not to quit and also assured him that there would not be any more interventions from the government. But this promise was forgotten by the Government as fast as it was made. The move to oust the Governor as Chancellor has a pinch of comedy in it. The Governor himself has to sign the ordinance/order and it is similar to a situation where the accused sitting as judge in his own case!
The Chief Minister and his cabinet colleagues repeat time and again that the Governor is bound to sign on whatever legislations and ordinances they send to him. But Article 163-(1the Indian Constitution has a rider:
l There shall be a Council of Ministers with the Chief Minister at the head to aid and advise the Governor in the exercise of his functions, except in so far as he is by or under this Constitution required to exercise his functions or any of them in his discretion.
l If any question arises whether any matter is or is not a matter as respects which the Governor is by or under this Constitution required to act in his discretion, the decision of the Governor in his discretion shall be final, and the validity of anything done by the Governor shall not be called in question on the ground that he ought or ought not to have acted in his discretion.
l The question of whether any, and if so what, advice was tendered by Ministers to the Governor shall not be inquired into in any Court. (Ref: The Constitution of India: BARE ACT-PBP, New Delhi. Pages 62-63).
Nowhere in the Constitution, it is mentioned that the Governor has to sign on whatever legislation enacted by the Assembly. But the sad thing is that in Kerala one cannot explain this point to the Marxists for whom anything against their line of thinking is Fascism.
On whether the Government is bound to sign on whatever Bills sent to him by the Government, former union minister of law and justice Dr. Subramanian Swamy has this to say, said, “If the LDF Government sends him a Bill stating that Kerala has declared itself as an independent State and seceded from the Union of India, what do you think the Governor should do?” asked Dr. Swamy.
Controversies associated with the appointment of vice-chancellors is not confined to Kerala. In neighboring Tamil Nadu, the post of a vice-chancellor commands a premium of Rs 20-Rs 40 crores, according to former Governor Banwarilal Purohit who serves as Governor of Punjab now.
The writer is a senior journalist with The Pioneer
