SC appoints former CJI Lalit as head of search panels for V-Cs in West Bengal

It requested the chairperson “to nominate four persons out of the empanelled experts, whom he finds capable of shortlisting suitable names for appointment as Vice-Chancellors”.

The chairperson, it said, “shall preside over every search-cum-selection committee and thus, the composition of each such committee shall be five. The search-cum-selection committee shall prepare a panel of at least 3 names for each university”.

The SC asked the chairperson to constitute the search-cum-selection committee “preferably within two weeks”.

It also nominated the West Bengal’s Department of Higher Education “as the nodal department of the state government to issue advertisements to invite applications for the posts of Vice-Chancellors… The advertisements shall give four weeks’ time to submit the applications”.

The applications shall be scrutinised by the department concerned of the state government within one week and the entire set of all applications shall be placed before the chairperson of the search-cum-selection committee, who will get the dossier of each candidate prepared for consideration of the committee. The court asked the search committee to complete its task within three months from Monday.

The court said that the recommendations of the search-cum-selection committee, duly endorsed by the chairperson, “shall be put up before the Chief Minister (and not the Minister incharge of a Department) for consideration. In case the West Bengal Chief Minister has reasons to believe that any shortlisted person is unsuitable for appointment as Vice-Chancellor, the remarks to this effect along with supporting material and the original record of the recommendation made by the search-cum-selection committee shall be put up before the Chancellor within two weeks. The CM shall be entitled to recommend the shortlisted names in order of preference for appointment as Vice-Chancellors”.

The Chancellor upon receipt of record from the CM “shall appoint the Vice Chancellors out of the empaneled names, in the same order of preference as recommended” by the CM, the court said.

“In case the Chancellor has any reservation against the empaneled names and/or the remarks made by the CM… against any shortlisted candidate, the Chancellor shall be entitled to put up his own opinion on file, supported with reasons and relevant material,” it said.

The SC said that the Chancellor “shall accord his approval (save and except when there is a difference of opinion) within two weeks of receipt of file from the” CM and the Higher Education Department or any other Department concerned of the state government will notify the appointment within one week from the date of receipt of approval from the Chancellor.

The court said that in case of differences between the Chancellor and CM over any name, “all such files shall be put up before” it. “A final decision in this regard shall be taken by this court,” the court said.