VC appointment in West Bengal: Supreme Court forms search committee

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday made an important intervention in the appointment of VCS for 13 state-run universities in West Bengal, which was in limbo due to the Governor-government battle. A five-member search committee will be formed under the chairmanship of former Supreme Court Chief Justice U.U Lalit within two weeks to oversee the appointments of vice-chancellors for the universities. The decision of the Supreme Court will be final if there is any objection to the names decided by the committee.

The action was taken by the bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan. Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Governor CV Ananda Bose have not responded to the court's ruling.

It must be noted that the important intervention of the Supreme Court comes at a time when the Governor-Government battle on the appointment of VC continues to be intense in states, including Kerala. Kerala Governor Arif Mohammed Khan had issued an order last week forming search committees for the appointment of VCs in six universities.