Patna, Aug. 2: The appointments of the six vice-chancellors and five pro-VCs in the state universities were made in apparent “disregard” to the “unwritten consensus” that was reached between Governor Devanand Konwar and chief minister Nitish Kumar at their meeting last month, top sources told The Telegraph today.

Konwar, also the chancellor of the state’s universities, and Nitish held a meeting on July 17 following allegations by some ministers that Raj Bhavan was coming in the way of higher education.

“His (the governor’s) appointment of the six VCs and five pro-VCs strongly indicates that he has paid no heed either to what he agreed during his meeting with Nitish Kumar or to the chief minister’s efforts to persuade him to work in consultation with the government on such matters,” sources in the chief minister’s office said.

In spite of repeated attempts, no comment could be elicited from Raj Bhavan.

The sources said the human resource development department had sent to the chancellor’s office a shortlist of 12 persons for appointment as VCs and pro-VCs earlier this year. “But not even a single person from the list figures in the appointments that the governor has made,” the sources added.

Government sources say the governor has disregarded Section 10 (2) of the State Universities Act of 1974 in making the appointments, that too after his meeting with Nitish. The law says that the governor should consult the government in the appointment of vice-chancellors. However, the government’s suggestions are not binding on the governor.

“The governor did not consult the state government while appointing the VCs and pro-VCs. There was no consensus on the issue and as such the appointments are void,” said HRD minister P.K. Shahi.

“The arbitrary decision can be gauged from the fact that I came to know about it through the newspapers,” he added.

Shahi said the government wanted persons with a proven track record to be appointed as VCs. “We simply wanted that persons of proven academic excellence and personal integrity should be appointed as VCs and pro-VCs,” he said.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi too hit out at the governor. “The rules clearly say that the chancellor will appoint the vice-chancellors and pro-VCs in consultation with the state government.”

Modi indicated that the government was prepared to fight a long-haul battle with the governor on the issue.

“The NDA MPs, in all likelihood, will raise in Parliament the role of governors in the states in the light of the Sarkaria commission’s recommendations,” he said.

Government sources pointed out that the open attack on the governor by the two senior ministers were an indication that Raj Bhavan did not keep Nitish in the loop.

“The ministers’ outbursts on the governor have the backing of the chief minister,” a senior JD(U) leader said.

Nitish, however, has so far refrained from making any public statement on the issue or against Konwar.