The Supreme Court on Monday observed that the differences between the Bengal government and governor C.V. Ananda Bose over the appointment of vice-chancellors in state universities had narrowed, with 15 of the 17 proposed names cleared by both parties.

A bench comprising Justices Surya Kant and Joymalya Bagchi told attorney-general R. Venkataramani, representing the governor, and senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Mamata Banerjee government, that contrary to earlier concerns about “serious differences,” consensus had largely been reached.

Justice Surya Kant, referring to a sealed report submitted by former Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit, said the governor had approved seven candidates who were the government’s second preferences and eight others who were its third preferences. This effectively meant 15 names had been agreed upon, leaving only two universities unresolved.

The court adjourned the matter for four weeks.

The apex court in July last year constituted a “Search cum Selection Committee” headed by Justice Lalit to resolve the ongoing deadlock between the government and governor over VC appointments in more than 30 universities.

On September 1 this year, the bench had moved the hearing date from September 26 to September 22 at the state’s request. Earlier, on August 1, the court had tentatively approved the appointment of Sonali Chakraborty as VC of Rabindra Bharati University, but withheld decisions on others pending further review.

The court had directed the committee to assess the suitability of candidates listed as second and third preferences and warned that it would make the final decision if disagreements persisted.