Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 29 (PTI) Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on Wednesday said he had ceased to function as chancellor of Universities from December 8 and his office must have forwarded to the state government, a notice served to the Chancellor by the Kerala High Court on a plea challenging reappointment of the Kannur University Vice Chancellor.

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His statement comes amid ongoing differences between the Governor and state government over the former's allegations of political interference in the functioning of the universities.

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Protesting against the alleged bid to undermine the authority of the chancellor, Khan had recently shot off a letter to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, requesting him to take over as Chancellor of universities.

"Notice has been issued to the Chancellor...not to Arif Mohammed Khan and from (December) 8th onwards...I am not functioning as Chancellor. Notice has come to the office, but as all matters relate to the universities, I have already given instructions to send them to the government. This must also have been sent to the government," the Governor told reporters on the sidelines of a function here today in response to a query.

The High Court had served the notice to the Chancellor on a plea challenging the reappointment of Prof Gopinath Ravindran as Vice Chancellor of Univeristy.

Earlier, the Governor had expressed displeasure over the recent re-appointment of Prof Ravindran as Vice-Chancellor of Kannur University for another four years.

Vijayan had said his government has no intention of taking over the position of Chancellor of universities in Kerala and Governor Khan should continue in that post.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)