Chandigarh: Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit came out in the open against the AAP government over the appointment of vice-chancellor of the Agricultural University, Ludhiana. He said in clear terms that if the Vice-Chancellor is not removed from the post, then he will take legal opinion.
Justifying the steps taken as chancellor, he accused the Punjab government of interfering in the governor’s jurisdiction in the matter of appointment of the VC. On October 18, the Governor had written to the Chief Minister seeking cancellation of the appointment of the PAU VC. Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann had on Thursday made public a letter to the governor in which the governor was targeted.
The Governor has in a way turned against the Chief Minister by holding a press conference today.
Purohit said that even if the UGC rules are set aside, as per the Haryana and Punjab Agricultural Universities Act, 1970, the governor is the chairman of the board of management and “the chancellor of the university is also the governor”.
According to the Act, the approval of the Chancellor is mandatory. The governor said that as the chancellor, he would speak if anything goes wrong. He highlighted the entire process of appointment of vice-chancellor.
Referring to Tamil Nadu, he said he had appointed 27 vice-chancellors when he was the governor there. “The government had sent a file thrice for extension of the vc of the varsity and the government is denying the role of the governor in the new appointment.”
Referring to supreme court cases, Purohit said the chancellor cannot be ignored in the appointment of the VC.
He also apprised him of the court verdicts on Gujarat and Bengal which pay in favour of the Governor. He also gave clear indications that he was not going to back down in the matter of appointment of vice-chancellor.
He said that wherever there is something wrong to protect the Constitution, he will speak. He also spoke about his experience and advised the state government to learn from this experience. He claimed that now the expenses of The Raj Bhavan have also come down by 50 per cent.
When asked if there was no corruption in the appointment of the VC in Punjab, the Governor said, “The house cannot be left open, anything can happen.” ’
‘Who will command me from above’
“I don’t get any instructions from the top, I myself am very senior, who will give me orders,” the governor said in response to the allegations levelled by Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann. Of course, I take legal guidance when needed. ’