University of Kerala notifies fifteen senate members of their expulsion

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A day after Governor Arif Mohammed Khan issued a notification removing 15 senate members, the University of Kerala on Thursday informed the matter to the ousted members through a notice.

The members withdrawn from the Senate, including four heads of university departments, will not be able to attend the next meeting of the Senate on November 4. The Raj Bhavan had issued the notification on Wednesday removing the 15 Senate members after Vice Chancellor VP Mahadevan Pillai chose not to comply with the Governor’s order withdrawing them from the Senate.

Instead Pillai pointed out certain “illegalities” in the Governor’s order in a bid to buy more time and enable the ousted members to attend the next meeting of the Senate. This irked the Governor and prompted the Raj Bhavan to take the extraordinary step of issuing the notification directly.  The expelled Senate members said they will approach court next week challenging their removal by the Governor.

On the directions of the Governor, a special meeting of the Senate was convened on October 11 to propose a member to the search-cum-selection committee the choose the next Vice Chancellor. However, a large section of Senate members abstained and the meeting couldn’t be held due to lack of quorum. The removal of two of the 15 members from the Senate had also led to their automatic disqualification as Syndicate members.