Amid WB-guv row over VCs, SC sets up selection panel

AmitAnand.Choudhary@timesofindia.com
New Delhi: As the deadlock between the West Bengal government and Governor C V Anand Bose on the appointment of vice-chancellors continues, affecting the functioning of 24 universities in the state, the Supreme Court on Monday appointed a search-and-selection committee headed by former CJI U U Lalit to recommend a panel of names.Appointments will be made from its recommended names.
A bench of Justices Surya Kant and K V Viswanathan invoked its extraordinary power granted under Article 142 of the Constitution to pass the order to end the stalemate and infuse transparency, independence, fairness and impartiality in the process. The court made eminent educationists, scientists, jurists, subject experts and administrators from several universities from across the country part of the search panel.
“The learned chairperson is hereby authorised to constitute separate or joint search-cum-selection committees for one or more universities, keeping in view the nature of subjects/disciplines in which education is being imparted in such pooled universities. The chairperson is requested to nominate persons out of the empanelled experts, whom he finds capable of short-listing suitable names for appointment as vice-chancellors. Learned chairperson shall preside over every search-cum-selection committee and thus, composition of each such committee shall be five. The search-cum-selection committee shall prepare a panel of at least three names (alphabetically and not in order of merit) for each university,” the order said.
“We deem it appropriate to invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice in this matter and pass this common order for constitution of search-cum-selection committee for all the subject universities...,” the bench said.