Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s legal advisor and the standing counsel of the Chancellor resigned from their respective posts on Tuesday, the Rajbhavan public relations officers said on Wednesday.
The Kerala governor’s legal advisor, senior advocate Jaju Babu, and standing counsel for the Chancellor of the state universities, MU Vijayalakshmi, mentioned “for reasons known to you also” in their resignation letters. Meanwhile, Rajbhavan sources informed us that senior advocate Dr. S. Gopakumaran Nair has been on duty for both positions since Tuesday, following their resignations.
Jaju Babu and MU Vijayalakshmi quit their posts after Governor Arif Mohammad Khan sought the resignations of the vice chancellors of all nine universities in the state.
As per an order issued by the Governor-Vice Chancellors of the University of Kerala, Mahatma Gandhi University, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies, Kannur University, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, University of Calicut, and Thunachath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University have been asked to resign from their posts.
Later, the VCs of nine universities moved the High Court, challenging the governor’s order to tender their resignations.
The Governor had also appointed Ciza Thomas as vice chancellor in charge of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) in Thiruvananthapuram.
The Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government had also asked the High Court to stay the appointment of state university chancellor Arif Muhammad Khan, which had been ordered by Kerala Governor Arif Muhammad Khan. However, the court on Tuesday declined to stay the appointment.
