The Supreme Court on Monday cleared the appointment of eight vice-chancellors to various state universities in Bengal after it was informed that both Governor C.V. Ananda Bose and the Mamata Banerjee government had no objections to these names.
Attorney-General R. Venkataramani, representing the governor, and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the state government, confirmed the consensus on eight appointments during the hearing.
However, a bench comprising Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said it would examine “in chambers” the names for five other VC posts over whom differences persist between the two constitutional authorities.
The judges will now review the final candidates for these five universities in consultation with the attorney-general and advocate Gupta before finalising the appointments. The court chose to conduct this examination “in chambers” rather than in open court to ensure confidentiality.
Though the official order has not been released, sources indicate that the governor, who serves as chancellor of state universities, and the Bengal government have reached a consensus on VC appointments for:
- Jadavpur University
- Raiganj University
- North Bengal University
- Calcutta University
- Biswa Bangla University
- Sadhu Ram Chand Murmu University
- Kazi Nazrul University
- Gour Banga University
The appointments are expected to be made soon, though the actual candidates have not been publicly disclosed.
During Monday’s hearing, Gupta told the bench that both parties had reached “more or less unanimity” on names for seven to eight universities. Venkataramani confirmed that the chancellor had no objections to at least eight names and suggested proceeding with those appointments.
Justice Surya Kant agreed, saying appointments could proceed for the eight uni-
versities where consensus
existed.
“On the remaining five names, we will try to understand the misgivings, if any, in our chambers,” the bench stated.
When Gupta suggested listing the five disputed universities in the official order, Justice Surya Kant declined. “Let us not discuss the candidates’ names in open court. Right now, whatever is agreeable, let us go through the appointment of those names where the learned chancellor has agreed to the committee’s recommendation,” he said.
On July 8, 2024, the Supreme Court constituted “Search cum Selection Committees” headed by former Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit for all universities in Bengal to break the deadlock over VC appointments.
The order came on an appeal filed by the Bengal government and certain PIL petitioners challenging Calcutta High Court judgments that upheld interim VC appointments made by the governor. The dispute had affected over 34 universities.