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Supreme Court ends stalemate over VC appointments in two Kerala universities
A petition was filed by Kerala governor over stalemate on appointment of VCs for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday ended months of uncertainty over the appointment of vice-chancellors (VCs) to two state universities in Kerala, expressing hope that future deadlocks between constitutional authorities — the Kerala governor and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan — would be resolved through dialogue in the larger national interest.
A bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan, hearing a petition filed by Kerala governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar over the stalemate on the appointment of VCs for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, said that in the “crossfire”, it is the students, teachers and parents who ultimately get impacted.
“Our concern is that the institution should have a permanent head so that the interest of all stakeholders is safeguarded. A university cannot function without a regular vice chancellor. He has an important role to play,” the bench said.
Attorney general R Venkataramani, appearing for the governor, who is the chancellor of both the universities, informed the court that the two appointments have been made as both sides have agreed on the names.
“When the deadlock was on, the governor thought he should call the chief minister and this ended the deadlock,” Venkataramani said.
The state, represented by senior advocate Jaideep Gupta along with state counsel CK Sasi, said, “This could not have happened without the intervention of this court.”
The bench had initially constituted a search-cum-selection committee headed by former Supreme Court judge justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, which recommended a panel of names for the two universities.
Kerala CM Vijayan did not agree with the name suggested for Kerala Digital University, following which the matter went back to the Justice Dhulia panel to find a way out.
The bench said, “This case demonstrates how timely intervention by courts can go a long way in protecting the rights of citizens… For several months, the two universities were rudderless as consensus over VC eluded the governor and the chief minister. When the doors of this court were knocked, we were deeply concerned about the plight of the students, their parents, teaching and non-teaching staff, in short all stakeholders who were unfortunately caught in the cross-fire.”
With the order of appointment issued by the governor, advocate Gupta said, “Let us put an end to it. All is well that ends well…. We thank both of you for bringing a happy ending to this saga.”
The posts of VCs for the two universities had been lying vacant since last year, with a temporary VC managing the affairs amid the stalemate between the two constitutional authorities.
The top court had in July observed, “Appointment of vice chancellors in educational institutions should not reach courts. There has to be harmony between the chancellor and the state government. Who are the sufferers ultimately, it is the students.”
This is the second instance in the recent past where the court has intervened to provide a solution for appointing VCs to universities due to a lack of consensus between a state governor and the chief minister. A similar issue arose in West Bengal, where VCs for 36 universities remained stuck and the Supreme Court constituted a search-cum-selection panel headed by former CJI Uday Lalit. As this model succeeded, the same was replicated in the Kerala matter by the present bench.
