Governor R N Ravi asks govt to recall Search Committee Order to nominate VCs
Tamil Nadu Governor RN Ravi, who is also the Chancellor of State-run Universities, on Thursday evening asked the State Government to recall the Order issued by it appointing a Search Committee–without UGC nominee-to identify candidates for appointment as Vice-Chancellor (VC) for the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU), Madurai, triggering yet another confrontation with the ruling DMK.
A Raj Bhavan communique said “the Chancellor has called upon the Government of Tamil Nadu, to recall the said notification which is in difference to the Search Committee constituted by him, sent for issuing notification and directed to notify the Search Committee for appointment of VC for MKU as constituted by the Chancellor, which includes the UGC Chairman’s nominee.
The Governor, as the Chancellor of MKU, has constituted the Search Committee for identification of the candidate for appointment of the VC of the University, with the nominees of the Chancellor, Syndicate, Senate of the University and UGC Chairman’s nominee, as per provisions of the Madurai Kamaraj University Act, 1965 and as per prevailing regulations of UGC, 2018 which is held to be mandatory by the Supreme Court.
The Governor-Chancellor has directed the Government of Tamil Nadu, to notify the constitution of the Search Committee of MKU vide letter dated December 16, 2024, consisting of the above four members, with the Chancellor’s nominee as the Convener of the Committee.
The Higher Education Department has issued a Government Order (GO) on January 9, 2025, notifying the Search Committee of MKU and to be published in the Official Gazette.
The said Notification purposefully excluded the UGC Chairman’s nominee, in violation of the judgements of the Supreme Court, which had already held in the case of Prof. (Dr) Sreejith P.S. Vs. Dr. Rajasree M.S. and Others that any appointment as a VC made on the recommendation of the Search Committee, which is constituted contrary to the provisions of the UGC Regulations shall be void ab initio.
The said notification (issued by the Government) is in difference to the Search Committee constituted, sent for issuing notification and published dated January 9, 2025 is ‘void ab initio’ being contrary to the existing UGC regulations and prevailing orders of the Supreme Court and the communication sent by the Governor-Chancellor constituting the Search Committee.
The Chancellor has called upon the Government of Tamil Nadu, to recall the said notification which is in difference to the Search Committee constituted, sent for issuing notification and directed to notify the Search Committee for appointment of the Vice-Chancellor of MKU as constituted by the Chancellor, which includes the UGC Chairman’s nominee.