Supreme Court to Decide VCs: Governor Faces Major Setback in KTU and Digital University Appointments

New Delhi: The Governor has faced a setback in the ongoing dispute over appointing Vice Chancellors to Kerala’s digital and technical universities, with the Supreme Court directing that permanent appointments will be made by the Court itself. The bench instructed the committee headed by former Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia to submit a single recommended name in a sealed cover by next Thursday, rejecting the list forwarded earlier by the Governor.

The directive came during the hearing of petitions concerning the Vice Chancellor appointment at the state’s Technical University. The matter was considered by a bench comprising Justices J. B. Pardiwala and K. V. Viswanathan.

Earlier, the Governor had approached the Supreme Court seeking to exclude Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from the selection process, arguing that neither university’s statutes provided a role for the Chief Minister in VC appointments. During the proceedings, the state government informed the Court that the Governor was attempting to advance candidates with Sangh Parivar ideological affiliations to senior university posts.

In response to these concerns, the Supreme Court appointed former Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia to lead the Search Committee and ensure a neutral and transparent selection process. The Search Committee's recommended list of candidates was first submitted to the Chief Minister and then forwarded to the Governor. However, no action was taken for more than three months.

On November 28th, during the hearing, the Supreme Court expressed strong disapproval of the Governor’s decision to disregard the committee’s recommendations. It also warned that it would be compelled to intervene if the Governor and the state government failed to reach an agreement.

As part of efforts to resolve the standoff, Ministers P. Rajeev and R. Bindu met the Governor on Wednesday to convey the government’s position. With the Governor refusing to reach a compromise, the Supreme Court has now stepped in with fresh directions to move the appointment process forward.