Governor Approves 11 WB Universities VC Appointments; Supreme Court Asks To Appoint Remaining
In the matter of the appointment of Vice Chancellors for 13 West Bengal Universities, the Supreme Court was informed today that the Chancellor (Governor) has cleared the names of 6 VCs and 5 more names shall be cleared by today or tomorrow (taking the number to 11).
A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Manmohan adjourned the matter to January 8, in light of Attorney General R Venkataramani’s request to grant some more time to the Chancellor (West Bengal Governor) to clear the names of Vice-Chancellors for remaining Universities.
The Court was dealing with a special leave petition filed by the State of West Bengal challenging the June 2023 judgment of the Calcutta High Court upholding the interim vice-chancellor appointments made by Governor Bose in 13 universities, in his capacity as the chancellor of the institutions.
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On July 8, the Court delivered a judgment, constituting Search-cum-Selection Committees for Universities under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit. The Committees, encompassing five members, were to prepare a panel of three names for each university for VC appointments, alphabetically and not in order of merits. Three months were given to complete the process.
Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the State of West Bengal, submitted that a time-limit balancing the interests of all parties be set as till now, only 6 names have been cleared and the reason given by the Governor is that he has to examine over 100 names before according his approval – although he has to consider only the names that the Selection Committee sends.
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The court provided 3 weeks and ordered to prepare the entire list to be sent to the state government for formal appointment. “the Chancellor may notify their appointments without any delay”, the court said.
