Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan.
Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Wednesday said he is ready to take advice from the state government, but not to pressure them. This statement of Governor Arif Mohammad Khan is considered very important, because he has admitted that he had come under pressure from the state government regarding the reappointment of Gopinath Raveendran as Vice Chancellor of Kannur University. Let us tell you that the Supreme Court had canceled the reappointment of Gopinath.
‘I would have resisted political pressure’
The Governor said he bowed to government pressure only because the state’s top law officer, the Advocate General (AG), had a legal opinion regarding the reappointment. He said, ‘I have said in front of the media that what I did was wrong. But, I succumbed to that pressure because the Advocate General had a legal opinion. Otherwise I would have resisted political pressure. If I have any doubts about the legality of something, who do I go to? To the Advocate General, because he is the top law officer in the state.
‘The posts were vacant because of the state government’
Governor Khan claimed that while agreeing to the reappointment, he had said that the Advocate General’s opinion was illegal and he had written the same on the documents. Asked about the status of vacant posts of Vice Chancellors in several universities in the state, the Governor said that as Chancellor he has started the process to fill those posts as soon as the Supreme Court verdict comes. He said that these posts were vacant for so long because of the state government.
‘I am not ready for their pressure’
Asked whether he would take advice from the government regarding appointments, Arif Mohammad Khan said, ‘I am ready to take advice from them, but I am not ready to take pressure from them.’ While canceling Raveendran’s reappointment, the court had rapped the state’s Left Front government for ‘undue interference’ in the case. Let us tell you that there have been huge differences on many issues between Governor Arif Mohammad Khan and the state government led by Pinarayi Vijayan. (Language)
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