Decode Politics: Why Supreme Court stepped into the V-C appointment imbroglio in Bengal

The committee will prepare a panel of three names in alphabetical order for the appointment of vice-chancellors in each university. The Supreme Court said the committee’s recommendations, endorsed by the chairperson, would be presented to the Chief Minister.

The court was hearing a Special Leave Petition (SLP) of the West Bengal government against a June 2023 order of the Calcutta High Court that said there was no illegality in the Governor’s orders appointing interim V-Cs in 11 state-run universities.

How did the impasse begin?

The Mamata Banerjee-led TMC government has been at loggerheads with Governor C V Ananda Bose over how state-run universities should function.

The relations between the government and the Governor started souring after the former asked the V-Cs whose tenures had ended to resign. At first, Bose extended the tenures of some interim V-Cs to buy time for the formation of the search committees to select full-term V-Cs.

In May 2023, the state government promulgated The West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Ordinance, 2023, that made changes to how these search committees could be formed. Changing the provision of the earlier three-member panel comprising one representative each nominated by the state education department, the varsity concerned and the Governor, the Ordinance stipulated that new five-member search committees will have one member each nominated by the CM, the education department, the state Higher Education Council, the University Grants Commission (UGC), and the Governor.

How did the matter come before the courts?

A PIL filed in the Calcutta High Court challenged the Ordinance. After this, the court sought a report from the government. With the matter pending in the court, the Governor took the matter into his own hands, appointing interim V-Cs for 11 of the 17 state universities in June 2023.

On June 28 last year, petitioner Sanat Kumar Ghosh moved the High Court, challenging the Governor’s appointment of interim V-Cs, saying they were illegal as Bose did not consult the higher education department. The court, however, upheld Bose’s right to make the appointments in his capacity as the ex-officio Chancellor of the universities.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice T S Sivagnanam and Justice Ajay Kumar Gupta said when the final decision was with the Governor, who is the appointing authority of the V-Cs, the “manner, mode or method of consultation” should be left with him and the consultee cannot dictate terms to the chancellor that the consultation has to be in a “particular mode or methodology”.

Whom did Ananda Bose appoint and what was TMC’s reaction?

In July 2023, Bose appointed former Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Subhro Kamal Mukherjee as the interim V-C of Rabindra Bharati University. It was the first of several interim V-Cs from a non-academic background picked by Raj Bhavan. Mukherjee, who retired from the judiciary in 2017, was later given the additional charge of Presidency University as the officiating V-C.

On September 3, 2023, Bose appointed interim V-Cs in seven more universities and initiated a similar process for nine other institutions. This led to a sharp deterioration in the already-strained ties between the Governor and the Mamata Banerjee government and a bitter spat began.

State Education Minister Bratya Basu alleged Bose’s decisions made without consulting the state education department were “illegal”. After the minister accused the Governor of denigrating the office V-C with “corrupt and immoral” decisions, Bose warned of action at the “stroke of midnight”, leading Basu to tweet that there was a “new vampire in town”.

How did the matter end up in the Supreme Court?

On October 1, the Governor named six ad hoc V-Cs even as the state government moved the Supreme Court to challenge his earlier appointments. The state government then filed the Special Leave Petition challenging the Calcutta High Court’s June 28 order

The same month, the top court stayed the emoluments of the newly appointed interim V-Cs and advised the Governor to sit with the CM “over a cup of coffee” to resolve the deadlock. Restraining Bose from making more such appointments, the Supreme Court said there was a need for reconciliation between the Governor and the CM “in the interest of educational institutions and the future careers of lakhs of students”.

This May, the Supreme Court told both parties to amicably resolve the dispute, failing which it would have to intervene.