High Court rejects re-appointment of Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee as V-C of University of Calcutta

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Tuesday has rejected the state government's re-appointment of Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee as the Vice-Chancellor (V-C) of University of Calcutta.

The Division Bench, including Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, rejected the state government's decision to re-appoint Banerjee for the position of V-C. The court also observed that the state government has no power to appoint the Vice-Chancellor. Banerjee's tenure as the V-C ended last year. However, on August 27, 2021, the state government re-appointed her.

Challenging her reappointment, a lawyer had filed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) alleging that Banerjee's appointment as the V-C was not in accordance with the UGC rules. Since the court rejected the appointment, Banerjee will have to step down from the post.

However, it has been reported that the state might approach the Supreme Court challenging the verdict. According to the state, the re-appointment reportedly was to ensure the smooth functioning of the university and not a bias.

During the hearing, the Advocate General on behalf of the state said that the rules to the appointment and re-appointment of a Vice-Chancellor are different.

The Vice-chancellor is appointed as per law of the UGC (University Grant Commission) but in case of re-appointment, a person below 65 years can be appointed as per the West Bengal University Amendment Act, 2011, if they have served as the Vice-Chancellor of the university for four years.

In this case, the Governor's approval is mandatory within six months of the state's decision.