Governor removes Vice-Chancellor of Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit

Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on Thursday removed K.K. Geethakumary from the post of Vice-Chancellor of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit (SSUS), Kalady, with immediate effect.

A notification issued by Lok Bhavan said that Ciza Thomas, Vice-Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, will hold additional charge of the Vice-Chancellor of the SSUS. She will exercise the powers and perform the duties and responsibilities of the Vice-Chancellor until further orders, it said.

Ms. Geethakumary, Professor of the Department of Sanskrit, University of Calicut, was appointed as interim Vice-Chancellor of the SSUS by the former Governor Arif Mohammed Khan in March 2024.

Mr. Arlekar, who is also the Chancellor of the State universities, had recently asked her to put on hold a few decisions taken by the Syndicate, including its decision to go ahead with the recruitment of permanent Assistant Professors based on a 2021 notification.

The members of the Syndicate nominated by the Chancellor and the Save University Campaign Committee (SUCC) had alleged that the Left-backed members were acting in haste as they intended to complete the process before the Assembly elections.

The Governor had also directed the Vice-Chancellor to freeze a Syndicate decision to consider a student of Bachelor of Fine Arts, who had failed the examination in 2005, as having cleared the exam. He was later admitted to the Master of Fine Arts programme in violation of norms, according to a complaint lodged by the SUCC before the Governor.