The exercise of the 'Doctrine of Pleasure' by the Chancellor must not be arbitrary or capricious; the court can intervene if such withdrawal lacks justification.

JUDGMENT

In these writ petitions, the challenge is against the order of the Chancellor withdrawing his nominated members from the Senate of the 4^th respondent University.

2. Section 17 of the Kerala University Act , 1974 (hereinafter referred to as “the Act”) deals with the constitution of the Senate of the University. The Senate contains four categories of members viz. “Ex-Officio Members”, “Elected Members”, “Life Members” and, “Other Members”. W.P.(C) No.33701/2022 and W.P.(C) No.33677/2022 are by the members nominated by the Chancellor under Section 17 of the Act in the category of “Other Members”, and W.P.(C) No.33664/2022 is by the persons nominated by the Chancellor under Section 17 of the Act under the category, “Ex-Officio Members”.

3. Section 18 (1) provides that, the Senate shall be re-constituted every four years. In terms of Section 18 (2) of the Act, the term of office of nominated members under the head “Ex-Officio Members” is two years from the date of nomination. As per Section 18 (3) of the Act, members other than “Ex-Officio” and “Life Members” are to hold office until the next re-constitution of the Senate. Section 18 (3) of the Act has four provisos; the 4^th proviso alone being relevant here, is extracted hereunder :-

“Provided also that the members in the Senate nominated by the Chancellor or the Government under the heading “other members” shall hold their office during the pleasure of the Chancellor or the Government as the case may be.”

4. The nomination of the petitioners in these writ petitions have been withdrawn by the Chancellor in exercise of the powers conferred under the said proviso which has ingrained therein, the “Doctrine of Pleasure”.

5. The short background which led to the action of the Chancellor in withdrawing nominations of the petitioners is as under.

6. The Vice Chancellor in office was due to retire on 24.10.2022. Section 10 (1) of the Act provides for appointment of Vice Chancellor by the Chancellor in the mode prescribed therein. Section 10 (1) reads thus:-

“The Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed by the Chancellor on the unanimous recommendation of a Committee appointed by him consisting of three members, one elected by the Senate, one nominated by the Chairman of the University Grants Commission and the third nominated by the Chancellor. The Chancellor shall appoint one of the members of the Committee to be its convener. The Committee shall make its recommendation within a period of three months of its appointment.”

7. As is evident from the Section, it postulates the constitution of a three-member committee by the Chancellor. The committee is commonly known as the, “Search-cum-Selection Committee”. The said committee consists of, (i) one member elected by the Senate, (ii) one member nominated by the Chairman of the University Grants Commission, and (iii) the third member nominated by the Chancellor. The Chancellor is to appoint one among the members of the Committee as its Convenor. On the unanimous recommendation of the Committee, the Chancellor is to appoint the Vice Chancellor.

8. Foreseeing the retirement of the Vice-Chancellor in Office, the Chancellor required the Senate to nominate a member to constitute the three-member selection committee. The Chancellor got an impression that there is lack of co-operation from the Senate. He felt that even his nominated members were aiding such action/ inaction. This led to the withdrawal of his nominated members from the Senate.

9. The documen