The Supreme Court has cleared the appointment of vice-chancellors for six state universities in Bengal, contrary to earlier indications that eight institutions would get approval, according to the order uploaded on Tuesday.
During oral arguments on Monday, the bench of Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi had indicated it would clear the appointments for eight universities. However, the written order that was made public shows clearance for only six institutions, with the remaining appointments to be taken up in the judges’ chambers on October 15 rather than in open court.
On Monday, Attorney General R. Venkataramani, representing the Bengal governor, who is the chancellor of the state universities, and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the state government, had confirmed the consensus on some appointments during the hearing.
The court, based on feedback from both sides, determined there were no impediments to appointing VCs at the following universities:
- University of Calcutta
- Biswa Bangla Biswavidyalaya
- Sadhu Ramchand Murmu University, Jhargram
- University of Gour Banga
- Kazi Nazrul University
- Jadavpur University
Education minister Bratya Basu posted on X on Tuesday: “We are grateful to the Supreme Court — for again playing the role of a sentinel upholding the Constitution... The Supreme Court gave its seal of approval on the names preferred by the Mamata Banerjee government as the VCs of six state-aided universities.”
On July 8, 2024, the Supreme Court formed “Search cum Selection Committees” led by former Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit for all universities in Bengal to break the VC appointment deadlock between the chief minister and the governor.
