Senior Advocate K Jaju Babu has resigned from his position as the Honorary Legal Advisor to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan..In a letter sent to the Governor on Tuesday, Babu said that he is resigning for reasons which the Governor is also well aware of."For reasons known to you also, the moment has come for me to vacate my position. Thank you so much for the opportunities for personal and professional development that you have provided me as Honorary Legal Advisor, during your tenure also," the resignation letter said.The Governor has been embroiled in controversy over the past several months, after tussle with the State government, the media and the vice chancellors (VC) of several universities in Kerala. Many of those matters have reached the Kerala High Court as well.Senior Counsel Babu has been appearing for the Governor in several petitions challenging his actions as the Chancellor of universities. .For reasons known to you also, the moment has come for me to vacate my position.Senior Advocate K Jaju Babu to Kerala Governor.In October, the Governor in his capacity as the Chancellor had sent letters to the VCs of 9 universities asking them to resign, with less than 24 hours notice. By the time the VCs approached the Court, however, the Governor sent show cause notices instead, asking them to explain why they shouldn't be removed from their posts in light of a recent decision of the Supreme Court setting aside the appointment of the VC of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University. When the VCs approached the High Court again, this time challenging the show cause notices, the Court extended the time granted to the VCs to file their explanations. However, it was made clear that the explanations would not cause any prejudice to their cases before the Court. .The Governor and the ruling CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front have been at loggerheads for quite some time now. The main cause of the row seems to be the fact that the Governor has apparently been sitting on some key legislations, especially the Kerala University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The State government has been open in its criticism of the same with several Ministers openly stating that the Governor, instead of withholding his approval indefinitely, should return the Bill for reconsideration.The clash came to a head when the Governor posted a now infamous tweet in which he seemed to be threatening Ministers who have been openly critical of him, with the "withdrawal of pleasure".Khan was alluding to Article 164 of the Constitution, which says the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the Chief Minister’s advice, and that “the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor”.However, many including those from the legal community, were quick to point out that this power is not one that the Governor can exercise unilaterally or for personal reasons and that the Governor is bound by advice of council of ministers. .The Governor has also drawn the ire of the media. Just this week, he removed journalists from MediaOne and Kairali TV from his press meet, even though they pointed out that his office had granted them permission to attend the meet. In videos that are available on these media portals, as well as others, the Governor can be seen saying that these channels have an agenda against him. The Kerala Union of Working Journalist then took up a protest march to the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.
Senior Advocate K Jaju Babu has resigned from his position as the Honorary Legal Advisor to Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan..In a letter sent to the Governor on Tuesday, Babu said that he is resigning for reasons which the Governor is also well aware of."For reasons known to you also, the moment has come for me to vacate my position. Thank you so much for the opportunities for personal and professional development that you have provided me as Honorary Legal Advisor, during your tenure also," the resignation letter said.The Governor has been embroiled in controversy over the past several months, after tussle with the State government, the media and the vice chancellors (VC) of several universities in Kerala. Many of those matters have reached the Kerala High Court as well.Senior Counsel Babu has been appearing for the Governor in several petitions challenging his actions as the Chancellor of universities. .For reasons known to you also, the moment has come for me to vacate my position.Senior Advocate K Jaju Babu to Kerala Governor.In October, the Governor in his capacity as the Chancellor had sent letters to the VCs of 9 universities asking them to resign, with less than 24 hours notice. By the time the VCs approached the Court, however, the Governor sent show cause notices instead, asking them to explain why they shouldn't be removed from their posts in light of a recent decision of the Supreme Court setting aside the appointment of the VC of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University. When the VCs approached the High Court again, this time challenging the show cause notices, the Court extended the time granted to the VCs to file their explanations. However, it was made clear that the explanations would not cause any prejudice to their cases before the Court. .The Governor and the ruling CPI(M) led Left Democratic Front have been at loggerheads for quite some time now. The main cause of the row seems to be the fact that the Governor has apparently been sitting on some key legislations, especially the Kerala University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2022. The State government has been open in its criticism of the same with several Ministers openly stating that the Governor, instead of withholding his approval indefinitely, should return the Bill for reconsideration.The clash came to a head when the Governor posted a now infamous tweet in which he seemed to be threatening Ministers who have been openly critical of him, with the "withdrawal of pleasure".Khan was alluding to Article 164 of the Constitution, which says the Chief Minister shall be appointed by the Governor and other Ministers shall be appointed by the Governor on the Chief Minister’s advice, and that “the Ministers shall hold office during the pleasure of the Governor”.However, many including those from the legal community, were quick to point out that this power is not one that the Governor can exercise unilaterally or for personal reasons and that the Governor is bound by advice of council of ministers. .The Governor has also drawn the ire of the media. Just this week, he removed journalists from MediaOne and Kairali TV from his press meet, even though they pointed out that his office had granted them permission to attend the meet. In videos that are available on these media portals, as well as others, the Governor can be seen saying that these channels have an agenda against him. The Kerala Union of Working Journalist then took up a protest march to the Raj Bhavan on Tuesday.
