Appointment of 6 vice-chancellors from state list: Supreme Court orders Bengal governor’s appointments

CV Ananda Bose has a long-standing feud with Bangladesh’s ruling Trinamool Congress party (file photo)

New Delhi:

The Supreme Court on Tuesday directed West Bengal Governor and chancellor of state universities CV Ananda Bose to appoint six suitable persons as vice-chancellors from the list of candidates provided by the state government.

Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the Prime Minister, told the Supreme Court that he had approved the six names in the list sent by the Mamata Banerjee government.

The ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC) has been at loggerheads with Mr Bose over how universities in the state should be run.

“The six persons shall be appointed immediately,” a bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and KV Vishwanathan said.

It also asked the state government to send a new list of suitable candidates to the Prime Minister’s Office, from which the Prime Minister’s Office may decide to appoint more VCs.

The judges expressed hope that the ongoing dispute could be resolved amicably and they may consider setting up a search committee later to shortlist candidates for vice-chancellors of the remaining public universities.

Earlier, it had asked governors, state governments and the University Grants Commission (UGC) to recommend three to five candidates each for setting up a search-cum-selection committee, which would decide on candidates for appointment as VC.

At the outset, the attorney general told the bench that the finance minister approved six persons to be appointed as VCs from the list forwarded by the state government.

He strongly objected to the submission made by senior lawyer Abhishek Singhvi, appearing for the state government, that the governor deliberately disagreed with the university bill passed by the state assembly.

The West Bengal Assembly passed an amendment to increase the number of members of the search committee for appointing vice-chancellors of public universities from three to five.

The BJP has opposed the West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Bill, 2023, claiming that the new selection committee will further strengthen the ruling party’s control over the appointment of vice-chancellors.

“I don’t want to say more on this issue because it’s obvious,” the attorney general said, adding that the state government was uncooperative on the issue.

The judge has now set a hearing for April 30.

Earlier, the Supreme Court asked the Attorney General to use his “good offices” to amicably appoint deputy directors of several state-run universities in West Bengal following a bitter dispute between the West Bengal government and the governor over how universities in the state should be run. headmaster. is run.

It stressed that only eminent persons should be appointed as vice-chancellors and asked the attorney general to meet all stakeholders to resolve the issue.

The government’s most senior legal officer assured the court that he would proactively rectify the situation.

The Supreme Court is hearing the Bengal government’s appeal against the Calcutta High Court order of June 28, 2023, which said there was no illegality in the Bengal Governor’s order to appoint interim deputy prime ministers (VCs) in 11 state-run universities. Universities in his capacity as ex-officio President of these institutions.

In October last year, the Supreme Court had suspended the emoluments of the newly appointed interim Deputy Prime Minister and asked the Governor to have a “cup of coffee” with the Chief Minister to resolve the impasse over the appointment of the Deputy Prime Minister.

The report said a rapprochement between the Governor and the Chief Minister was needed “in the interest of educational institutions and the future careers of hundreds of thousands of students”.

The bench also recommended that the names of individuals on whom the state government and governor agreed should be cleared immediately.

Earlier, the high court held that the finance minister has the power to appoint the VC under the provisions of the relevant law.

Petitioner Sanat Kumar Ghosh, who moved the high court and the West Bengal government, claimed that the order appointing the VC to the state university was illegal as the governor did not consult higher education institutions before making the appointment. education sector.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)