Sakina Tashrifwala
Published on: November 9, 2022 at 20:54 IST
Senior Advocate K. Jaju Babu has resigned from his role as Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan’s Honorary Legal Advisor.
Babu informed the Governor in a letter that he was resigning for reasons that the Governor was also aware of on Tuesday.
“The time has come for me to leave my position, for reasons that you are well aware of. I want to express my gratitude for the opportunity for both personal and professional growth that you have given me while serving as my honorary legal advisor,” the letter of resignation stated.
As a result of a dispute with the State administration, the media, and the Vice Chancellors (VC) of numerous universities in Kerala, the Governor has been at the centre of controversy for the past few months.
Many of such cases have also been heard by the Kerala High Court.
In numerous petitions that criticise the Governor’s decisions as the Chancellor of Universities, Senior Counsel Babu has been representing the Governor.
The VCs of nine institutions received letters from the Governor in October, demanding them to resign with less than 24 hours’ notice in his capacity as the Chancellor.
By the time the VCs went to the Court, however, the Governor had already sent show cause notices, requesting an explanation from them as to why they shouldn’t be fired in light of the Supreme Court’s recent ruling invalidating the appointment of the VC of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University.
The High Court extended the time given to the VCs to file their justifications after the VCs reapplied, this time challenging the show cause notices.
It was made clear, though, that the answers wouldn’t harm their claims before the Court in any way.
The Governor and the ruling Left Democratic Front, which is led by the CPI(M), have been at odds for a while.
The Governor’s alleged inaction on several important pieces of legislation, including the Kerala University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022, appears to be the primary source of the conflict.
The State government has been outspoken in its disapproval of the same, with numerous Ministers publicly urging that the Governor should send the Bill back for reconsideration rather than withholding his approval forever.
The disagreement reached a boiling point when the governor sent out a now-famous tweet in which he appeared to threaten ministers who had publicly criticised him with the “removal of pleasure.”
Khan was making reference to Article 164 of the Constitution, which states that “the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor” and that the Chief Minister shall be chosen by the Governor, along with other Ministers who will be chosen on the Chief Minister’s recommendation.
However, many, including those in the legal profession, were quick to point out that the Governor is bound by the counsel of the council of ministers and cannot exercise this power unilaterally or for personal reasons.
The media has also been critical of the governor.
Just last week, he expelled MediaOne and Kairali TV journalists from his news conference despite the fact that his administration had given them permission to attend.
The Governor claims that these media outlets have an agenda against him in videos that are available on this and other media portals.
On Tuesday, the Kerala Union of Working Journalists organised a protest march to the Raj Bhavan.