Anantapur: The row between the Sri Krishnadevaraya University Executive Council (EC) members and the Vice-Chancellor P.Kusuma Kumari, which started with the controversial appointments in the recent past took a new turn on Tuesday with the V-C refusing to invite EC members for a meeting held to approve the budget and annual reports, on the grounds of contempt of court and the Executive Council members holding a parallel meeting at a separate venue under the Chairmanship of P.L.N. Reddy. Five EC members including P.L.N. Reddy, K. Rama Krishna Reddy, C. Sudhakar, .M. Nagaraju and K.T. Sridhar who met at a separate venue elected P.L.N. Reddy chairman of the council meeting and conducted business apart from relieving P.W. Purushotham present Registrar from his duties with immediate effect and re-appointing G.H. Philip Registrar for a period of one year.

Minutes of the meeting released to the media stated that the meeting was held as per section 18(5) of the provisions of the universities act,1991. The meeting disapproved the recent appointments made by the Vice-Chancellor based on the Court orders. The meeting also relieved Prof. K. Nageshwara Rao as Rector and K. Ramalingeshwar Reddy, standing counsel with immediate effect.

Meanwhile the SK University Vice-Chancellor Kusuma Kumari told The Hindu that she had to reconsider her decision to invite the council members to the meeting following a legal advice from the standing counsel that her inviting the members to the meeting would amount to contempt of court as the High Court had in it's recent decision had ordered for re-call of the executive members in view of the expiry of their term. A petition had reportedly been filed against inviting the council members to the meeting in the High Court.

The MRPS activists too threatened to file contempt proceedings against her if she invited the EC members, she maintained. She stated that the decisions taken by the members in the absence of the Vice-Chancellor who is the Chairperson of the executive council meeting would be invalid unless the Chairperson ratified them .