Guv may not get to appoint VCs, but retains lot of powers on univs

THE Tamil Nadu Governor still wields considerable power with respect to state universities, though a recent Supreme Court ruling stripped the governor of the authority to appoint Vice-Chancellors to 18 of 20 state-run universities.

- SUBASHINI VIJAYAKUMAR & BINITA JAISWAL @ Chennai

In a landmark ruling a week ago, the Supreme Court invoked its plenary powers under Article 142 to grant 'deemed assent' to 10 amendment bills brought by the DMK government.

Though the Vice-Chancellors will henceforth be appointed by the state government under the new amendments, a closer examination of the amendments and original Acts of the universities reveals that the Governor-Chancellor still retains various powers, including the authority to veto the decisions of universities' governing bodies such as Senate and Syndicate.

Incidentally, Governor Ravi vetoed the decisions of the Madurai Kamaraj University's Syndicate and Senate to confer honorary doctorate on freedom fighter and communist leader N Sankaraiah on November 2, 2023.

For the 101-year-old Sankaraiah, who passed away just 13 days later, this could have been his last public honour and perhaps a wish fulfilled as his arrest by the British Raj in 1941 in his final college year prevented him from graduating.

The Governor also remains the Chancellor of 20 of Tamil Nadu's 22 state-run universities.