Justice Pardiwala said that the committee headed by Justice Dhulia had recommended four names each for both universities, and the Governor and the Chief Minister should appoint the most qualified candidates from both batches.
Supreme Court
New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Friday made a strong observation, stating that if a consensus is not reached between the Governor and the Chief Minister of Kerala regarding the appointment of Vice-Chancellors, the Supreme Court will intervene. A bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and P.B. Varale made this observation while hearing a case related to the appointment of Vice-Chancellors of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology.
What happened during the hearing
The bench asked Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Governor, and senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the Chief Minister, to find a mutually agreeable solution to the issue. Venkataramani said that the Justice (Retired) Sudhanshu Dhulia Committee had recommended two names, and the Governor had selected two names.
The Attorney General said, "The Chief Minister has some issues with some of the names. Some names are common." To this, advocate Jaideep Gupta said, "The Governor agrees with the names that the Chief Minister does not approve of. I think this Court will have to find a solution."
Supreme Court's strong observation
Justice Pardiwala said that the committee headed by Justice Dhulia had recommended four names each for both universities, and the Governor and the Chief Minister should appoint the most qualified candidates from both batches.
The bench then said that if a consensus is not reached by December 9, the court will intervene and make the appointments itself. The Supreme Court said, "Reach a consensus by Tuesday, or we will appoint the Vice-Chancellors and resolve the matter."
Earlier, on November 28, the Supreme Court had expressed serious objection to the Kerala Governor's failure to consider the Dhulia Committee report on the appointment of Vice-Chancellors of two universities, stating that it was not just a mere piece of paper. The Supreme Court had asked the Kerala Governor to take a decision on the report within a week and inform the Supreme Court of the decision on December 5.
The Supreme Court issued this order after Gupta complained that Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan had sent his recommendations to the Governor-cum-Chancellor for the appointments of Vice-Chancellors of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, based on the Justice Dhulia panel report, but no decision had been taken yet.
