All 36 state universities in Bengal will now have full-term vice-chancellors after the Supreme Court on Friday approved the final set of appointments, ending a prolonged impasse between the governor — the ex-officio chancellor — and the state government.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi said “we are closing the case” after recording its appreciation that names for the remaining three universities had been mutually agreed upon by the Bengal governor and the state government, following the intervention of a committee headed by Justice U.U. Lalit.
Dwaipayan Bharadwaj, Tapas Chakrabarti, and Ranjan Chakrabarti were appointed vice-chancellors of North Bengal University, Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, and Netaji Subhas Open University, respectively, said an education department official.
Their names were placed before the court in a sealed cover by the Justice Lalit committee.
In March, the Supreme Court-appointed search-cum-selection committee had re-interviewed shortlisted candidates to prepare fresh panels for the three universities. Detailed panels were drawn up after reassessing candidates through the re-interview process.
An official of the state education department said Netaji Subhas Open University and North Bengal University had been functioning without even officiating or interim vice-chancellors. Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, meanwhile, had an authorised vice-chancellor appointed by the governor in September 2023, allegedly without consultation with the education department. The state government had restricted such authorised vice-chancellors from taking major policy decisions.
“The administrative and academic work had been severely affected in three campuses due to the absence of full-term vice-chancellors. We are relieved that the vacuum has now been filled,” the official said.
The Chief Justice, while noting that the issue had been resolved, appreciated the efforts of the Justice Lalit committee, Attorney General R. Venkataramani and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta for helping iron out the differences.
However, the formal order had not been uploaded till late Friday.
On January 16, the bench had cleared vice-chancellor appointments for eight universities after a consensus was reached between the state and then governor, C.V. Ananda Bose.
Differences, however, persisted over three universities, prompting the court to refer the matter to the Justice Lalit-led committee for fresh consideration. The committee conducted re-interviews in the first week of March to resolve the deadlock.
The matter saw multiple adjournments, indicating that differences between the governor and chief minister were gradually narrowing.
The Supreme Court also held in-chamber meetings with the Attorney General and advocate Gupta representing the state.
On July 8, 2024, the apex court had constituted search-cum-selection committees headed by Justice Lalit to break the logjam. The court was hearing appeals filed by the state government and PIL petitioners challenging Calcutta High Court rulings that had upheld interim appointments made by the governor.