Permanent VC: Supreme Court Criticises Governor's Deliberate attempt in delaying appointment

New Delhi: The Supreme Court has sharply criticised Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar for allegedly delaying the appointment of permanent Vice-Chancellors in the state’s Digital and Technical universities.

The Court stressed that the order issued by Justice Sudhanshu Dhoolia is not a mere formality and requires immediate action from the Governor. The bench, comprising Justices J B Pardhawala and K V Viswanathan, noted that the matter will be reviewed again on Friday and expressed hope that the Governor would take appropriate action within this timeframe.

“The Governor must act first; the Court will then determine what is right and what is wrong,” the bench observed.

The Governor’s lawyer attempted to mislead the Court by claiming that the reports had not been submitted by the Chief Minister’s office. As a result, he was barred from making counter arguments on the matter.

Senior advocate Jaydeep Gupta, representing the Kerala government, pointed out that a verdict directs the appointment of permanent Vice- Chancellors within one week, based on the priority list submitted by the Chief Minister to the Governor’s office. However, this directive has yet to be implemented.

When the bench asked senior advocate Venkita Subrahmanyam, representing the Governor, whether the Chancellor had examined the Dhoolia Committee report, the response was negative, which drew the Court’s ire. When questioned why the report had not been examined, Subrahmanyam said a letter had been sent to the committee requesting procedural records.

The Court further inquired whether the Governor was claiming that the report had not been received. Subrahmanyam replied that while the Chief Minister’s report had been received, all annexures were not fully submitted. The Court asked the government to clarify which documents they meant. Gupta confirmed that, to his knowledge, all annexures had already been provided to the Governor, exposing an attempt to mislead the Court.

In its order, the bench noted that both parties had accepted the committee’s formation and that it was unclear why annexures were being cited as necessary to examine the report, dealing a significant blow to the Governor.

The Governor of Kerala has been appointing Vice-Chancellors affiliated with the Sangh Parivar, bypassing the list of candidates recommended by the state government. In several instances, temporary Vice- Chancellors have been appointed to fill vacancies, with the six-month temporary period extended up to a year, contrary to legal provisions.