Even SC fed up with Governor-Government tussle over VC appointment

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court stepped in to end the scuffle between the governor and the state government over the appointment of University Vice Chancellors. The court will form a search committee for the appointment of permanent VCs in technical and digital universities.

The court humbly requested both the Governor and the Government to cooperate and work without playing politics, keeping in mind the interests of the children.

The court will appoint a five-member committee for each university, including those recommended by the government and the governor. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and R. Mahadevan directed that the Governor, who is the Chancellor, and the state government recommend four people each today. The court will appoint two people from the list of both to each committee. The UGC should also recommend one representative each. Thus, there will be five people.

Each five-member committee should prepare a panel of VCs for their respective universities.

Although the petition filed by the Governor against the High Court's action cancelling the appointment of temporary VCs and the petitions filed by the government against the reappointment notification came up for consideration, the court headed straight to the appointment of permanent VCs.

When the Governor's petition was considered on July 30, it was suggested that priority be given to the appointment of a permanent VC and that they work in collaboration with each other.

It was observed that Governor Arlekar's action in re-appointing Dr. K. Sivaprasad as interim VC in the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Dr. Ciza Thomas as interim VC in the Digital University was done by violating the law. However, the Supreme Court did not interfere in the matter at this time. With this, the interim VCs can continue.

Although the Supreme Court appoints the search committee, only those who are interested in the governor can become vice-chancellors. The power of appointment lies with the governor.

• The governor and the government have two representatives each in the search committees. With the addition of a UGC member, the governor may get an advantage.
• Since the appointment is made by the governor, the person included in the panel by his representatives or the UGC member is likely to get the appointment.
• If there is no consensus, different panels can be given to each member. The governor can appoint one person from these using his discretion.
• It is indicated that the VSSC director and IIT heads are among those recommended by the governor for the search committee. The panel was handed over to the Attorney General at night.
• The government also handed over the panel of four academic experts to lawyer Jayadeep Gupta at night.
• The search committee will advertise nationally and accept applications to form the final panel. The process will take at least three months. Interim VCs can continue until then.