New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday expressed happiness that the Governor of Kerala and the state government have agreed on the names for the appointment of Vice Chancellors of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Kerala University of Digital Sciences, saying, “This story has a very happy ending.”
The matter was heard by a bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Vishwanathan. The bench observed that the consensus pointed towards the government and the Chancellor, saying, “When the doors of this court were approached, we were deeply concerned about the plight of students, their parents, and the teaching and non-teaching staff… Our concern was for all stakeholders.”
It said, “We appointed Justice Dhulia and tasked him with recommending at least three names for the post of Vice-Chancellor in the two universities.” The court said, “Today we are happy to inform you that both the Chancellor and the Government have unanimously stated that the appointments to the post of Vice-Chancellor in both universities have been made from the list of empanelled candidates.
We thank Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia (retired) for his good work in this matter.” Justice Pardiwala said, “Our effort was to ensure that the institutions have a permanent head…”
He said that by issuing the appointment orders, the concerned authorities have lifted the veil on this matter. At the beginning of the hearing, Attorney General R. Venkataramani informed the bench that the matter had been resolved and the matter had been reported to a committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Sudhanshu Dhulia.
The bench noted that no university can function without a vice-chancellor because of their crucial role, and emphasized that this case demonstrates how timely and significant intervention can be helpful in protecting citizens’ rights.
Justice Pardiwala said, “We also commend the Attorney General and Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta and the entire team for helping bring this story to a successful conclusion.” On December 11, the Supreme Court, in light of the ongoing standoff between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor-cum-Chancellor Rajendra Arlekar, asked a committee headed by Justice (Retd.) Dhulia to recommend one name each for the appointment of a vice-chancellor for two technical universities.
The bench noted that despite its best efforts, the impasse continues to this day, and the Chancellor and the Chief Minister have not been able to reach a consensus on appointing a specific person as Vice-Chancellor (VC) for the two universities.
On November 28, the Supreme Court expressed its displeasure over the delay in action by the Kerala Governor on a report by former Supreme Court judge Justice (Retd.) Sudhanshu Dhulia regarding the appointment of Vice-Chancellors (VCs) for the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology. On December 5, the Supreme Court stated that if a consensus is not reached between Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor-cum-Chancellor Rajendra Arlekar, it will intervene to resolve the impasse regarding the selection of Vice-Chancellors (VCs) for the two technical universities in the state.
On August 18, the Supreme Court had appointed Justice Dhulia as the chairperson of the search-cum-selection committee to shortlist names for regular vice-chancellor (VC) appointments in two universities, APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology.
