WB Universities' VC Appointments | '11 Appointments Approved By Governor', AG Says; Supreme Court Gives 3 Weeks' Time For The Remaining

In the matter pertaining to appointment of Vice Chancellors for certain West Bengal Universities, the Supreme Court was informed today that the Chancellor(Governor) has cleared the names of 6 VCs and 5 more names shall be cleared by today or tomorrow (taking the number to 11).

A Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Manmohan adjourned the matter to January 8, in light of Attorney General R Venkataramani's request to grant some more time to the Chancellor (West Bengal Governor) to clear the names of Vice-Chancellors for remaining Universities.

"He (Chancellor) is in the process of examining them very closely and infact made a request that little more time may be given...in some cases, he wanted to have some more material...taking a little time...I hope it will all be ironed out", the AG told the Court.

On the other hand, Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi, for the State of West Bengal, submitted that there is no objection to grant of a couple more weeks (as the Court is otherwise going to be on winter break as well). However, he requested that a time-limit balancing the interests of all parties be set, pointing out that till now, only 6 names have been cleared and the reason given by the Governor is that he has to examine over 100 names before according his approval - although he has to consider only the names that the Selection Committee sends.

Hearing the senior counsel, Justice Kant remarked, "so long as the fruits and fruitful results are coming...". The order was dictated thus:

"Learned Attorney General of India has handed over a list of 11 Universities, where appointments of Vice-Chancellors have been duly approved by the learned Chancellor. He submits that given 3 weeks more time, the entire list will stand scrutinized and the approved names shall be immediately forwarded to the state government for their formal appointment...the Chancellor may notify their appointments without any delay."

When a counsel drew the court's attention to an interim application, seemingly questioning the procedure of the Selection Committee, the judge added,

"Don't file any application questioning the Selection Committee or the procedure of the Selection Committee. Whatever you have to say, you can say to the Chief Minister, you can say before the Chancellor...they will examine it...as far as we are concerned, we will not entertain any objection as of now."

After this exchange, another counsel persisted in doubting composition of a Selection Committee (alleging that it was not in terms of the Court's directions). This led Justice Kant to remark, "We are quite confident that if we had requested God to come and chair the Selection Committee, still your grievances would have been there! We have no doubt in our mind."

The Court was dealing with a special leave petition filed by the State of West Bengal challenging the June 2023 judgment of the Calcutta High Court upholding the interim vice-chancellor appointments made by Governor Bose in 13 universities, in his capacity as the chancellor of the institutions.

On July 8, the Court delivered a judgment, constituting Search-cum-Selection Committees for Universities under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit. The Committees, encompassing five members, were to prepare a panel of three names for each university for VC appointments, alphabetically and not in order of merits. Three months were given to complete the process.

Appearance: Senior Advocates Dr AM Singhvi and Jaideep Gupta (for the State of West Bengal); Attorney General R Venkataramani (for Governor CV Ananda Bose)

Case Title: State of West Bengal v. Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh & Ors. | Special Leave Petition (Civil) No. 17403 of 2023

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