Governor As Chancellor Not Merely Titular Head But The Sole Judge In Selection Of Vice Chancellor: SC In Kannur University VC Reappointment Case

The Supreme Court has held that the Kerala Governor, being the ex-officio Chancellor of Kannur University, is not merely a titular head but the sole Judge in the selection of the Vice Chancellor.

The Court said that Governor, being the Chancellor of the University, acts only in his personal capacity.

Therefore, the powers and duties exercised and performed by him under a statute related to the University, as its Chancellor, have absolutely no relation to the exercise and performance of the powers and duties by him while he holds office as the Governor of the State, the court added.

The court observed thus in its judgment quashing the re-appointment of Dr Gopinath Raveendran as the Vice Chancellor of Kannur University and has held it to be 'patently illegal', for the reason that the exclusive power that had to be exercised by the Chancellor was influenced by the State Government.

The Bench of CJI Dr DY Chandrachud, Justice JB Pardiwala, and Justice Manoj Misra observed that, "It is the Chancellor who has been conferred with the competence under the Act 1996 to appoint or reappoint a Vice-Chancellor. No other person even the Pro-Chancellor or any superior authority can interfere with the functioning of the statutory authority and if any decision is taken by a statutory authority at the behest or on a suggestion of a person who has no statutory role to play, the same would be patently illegal."

Counsel Dama Seshadri Naidu and Senior Counsel George Poonthottam appeared for the appellant, while Senior Counsel KK Venugopal appeared for the State of Kerala.

This case dealt with the re-appointment of Dr. Raveendran as the Vice-Chancellor in Kannur, which sparked controversy in 2021. The Kerala Governor, Mohammed Arif Khan, alleged pressure from the CPI(M)-led State government to approve the re-appointment. Dr. Premachandran Keezhoth challenged the appointment in the Kerala High Court, arguing that Dr. Raveendran exceeded the age limit of 60 during reappointment (he was 61). The High Court upheld the reappointment, which was appealed before the Supreme Court.

The Apex Court observed that a writ of quo warranto lies if any appointment to a public office is made in breach of the statute or the rules. With that background, it was observed that, "although the notification reappointing the respondent No. 4 to the post of Vice-Chancellor was issued by the Chancellor yet the decision stood vitiated by the influence of extraneous considerations or to put it in other words by the unwarranted intervention of the State Government. "

In light of the same, it was held that the decision-making process vitiated the entire process of reappointment of respondent no. 4 as the Vice Chancellor. 

"The Chancellor was required to discharge his statutory duties in accordance with law and guided by the dictates of his own judgment and not at the behest of anybody else. Law does not recognise any such extra constitutional interference in the exercise of statutory discretion. Any such interference amounts to dictation from political superior and has been condemned by courts on more than one occasion", the court said.

In light of the same, the impugned judgment and the order of the High Court was set aside, and the notification of the Kannur University reappointing the respondent No. 4 as the Vice-Chancellor was quashed. 

Cause Title: Dr Premachandran Keezhoth & Anr. vs The Chancellor Kannur University & Ors.

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