Governor withdraws notification, wants government to follow suit

CHENNAI: Days after Chief Minister MK Stalin met Governor RN Ravi, the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday withdrew notifications in connection with the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to three State-run varsities, but with a rider.

In an official release, Raj Bhavan said it is “confident” that the government, too, would withdraw its notifications and reissue them in line with UGC regulations and the judgments of the Supreme Court and High Courts.

As the Chancellor, the Governor had issued three notifications on September 6 constituting search committees to identify candidates for appointment as V-Cs for Bharathiar University, The Tamil Nadu Teachers Education University and the University of Madras.

Referring to the government’s gazette notifications on the same subject, Raj Bhavan said these were not in accordance with the UGC regulations. Citing the Madras High Court’s judgment in V Palaniappa Vs Secretary to Chancellor, Puducherry Technological University and others (Dec-2023), Raj Bhavan said the verdict mandates that relevant statutory provisions should conform to UGC Regulations, 2018.

In view of this “clear enunciation of the law”, the Governor is confident that in deference to constitutional proprietary and legality, the government would withdraw its notifications and issue it afresh to constitute search committees, the statement said.

The Governor “awaits appropriate action from the government of Tamil Nadu at the earliest in this regard to ensure that the cause of higher education and the future of several hundred thousand students in the state are not adversely affected”.