‘Make Bengal Guv party in case with appointment of interim V-Cs’
kolkata: The Supreme Court on Monday directed that the Bengal Governor who happens to be the chancellor of the state universities be made party in the case associated with the appointment of interim vice-chancellors at a number of universities, the latest being Jadavpur University (JU).
The division bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Dipankar Dutta directed for serving notices to all parties, including the Governor. The matter will be heard again after two weeks.
The apex court instructed that both parties in the meantime, before the next hearing, hold discussions on how full time vice-chancellors can be appointed.
The mention of the latest appointment of Sau was made before the apex court on Monday. Governor CV Ananda Bose on Saturday night had announced the appointment of Buddhadeb Sau, a faculty member of the Mathematics department of JU, as the interim vice-chancellor of the university.
Justice Suryakant observed that a university cannot function for too long without a full term V-C. “Why has the Education minister sent a list of names? Why is it that both parties (Governor and the state government) cannot work in tandem in this matter? We are not at this juncture passing any judgment about whether the Governor or the state has the right to appoint vice-chancellors. Presently, the interim vice-chancellors would continue to discharge their duties but a decision needs to be taken on how to appoint full term V-Cs,” the Justice observed.
On June 28, the Calcutta High Court had declared the appointment of interim vice-chancellor as valid and also directed the state government to bear the expenses of salaries and other allowances of these newly appointed interim vice-chancellors.
The state government moved the apex court arguing that the Governor cannot appoint V-Cs in the state universities in a one-sided way without consulting the state government.
The state secretariat and the Raj Bhavan have been at loggerheads in the recent past with the Governor appointing interim vice-chancellors for 11 other state universities in Bengal.
