Kerala Opposition leader VD Satheesan, on December 31, termed Governor Arif Mohammed Khan's decision to quit the post of Chancellor of Universities as illegal and unconstitutional. His reaction came after the Governor said that he had ceased to function as the Chancellor from December 8.

While speaking to ANI in Kochi, Satheesan said that the Governor cannot avoid his duties as the Chancellor without bringing the amendment in the university legislation. He said, "As per the law, which is passed by the legislature of the Kerala Assembly, for all the universities, the Governor is the Chancellor. He has to fulfil his duties as the Chancellor. It is mandatory."

He added, "There is no amendment, no ordinance. As per the law of the land, he has to obey the rules and provisions of the Act. He has to act accordingly as a Chancellor. I am not going to act as Chancellor means that I am not going to obey the provisions of the Act passed by the legislature." 

Khan, who is at loggerheads with the State Government over alleged political interference in the functioning of the universities across the state, on December 20, had said that he was even ready to transfer his powers as the Chancellor to the Higher Education Minister, who is also the Pro-Chancellor of universities. "I am not interested in being the symbolic head of the universities," he earlier told reporters in Thiruvananthapuram.