New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday asked Attorney General R Venkataramani to use his 'good offices' for amicable appointment of vice-chancellors in several state-run universities of West Bengal.
A bench comprising justices Surya Kant and Dipankar Datta said,“We impress upon the Attorney General to use his good offices for amicable appointment of vice-chancellors of various universities (as per the law governing such appointments)”. The bench said that this can be done by holding a joint meeting of the stakeholders.
The Mamata Banerjee government and the governor C V Ananda Bose, are involved in a bitter tussle regarding the functioning of the state’s universities. The apex court emphasized that only persons of eminence should be appointed as vice-chancellors. The AG assured the court he would take the initiative to remedy the situation.
The apex court, in October, had stayed the emoluments of the newly appointed interim vice-chancellors and asked the governor to sit with the chief minister to resolve the deadlock over the appointment of VCs.
The apex court had asked why the chancellor, being a constitutional authority, could not sit with the state or the Chief Minister, being another constitutional authority, and settle the issue when it was suggested by the court on the first day. The West Bengal government had informed the court that neither the governor nor the UGC had responded to any communications asking for their nominees for a search committee for the appointment of regular vice-chancellors.
On September 27, the apex court sought names of eminent personalities including scientists, technocrats, administrators, educationists and jurists for setting up a search committee for shortlisting and appointing VCs in state-run universities.
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