Supreme Court to Establish Search Committee for Vice Chancellor Appointments in Kerala

Supreme Court's Intervention in University Appointments

On Wednesday, the Supreme Court announced plans to form a search committee tasked with identifying candidates for the vice chancellor positions at two Kerala universities: the Kerala University of Digital Science and the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University. This decision comes amid a prolonged conflict between the Kerala government and Governor Rajendra Arlekar.

A bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and R Mahadevan instructed Attorney General R Venkataramani and state lawyer Jaideep Gupta to suggest four candidates for the five-member committee.

One member of this committee will be appointed by the University Grants Commission.

The situation arose from a notification issued by former Governor Arif Mohammed Khan on November 27, which appointed Ciza Thomas and K Sivaprasad as interim vice chancellors for the digital and technological universities, respectively.

On May 19, a single bench of the Kerala High Court annulled these appointments but permitted the interim vice chancellors to remain in their roles until May 27 to prevent disruption.

A subsequent division bench of the High Court upheld this decision, clarifying that the governor could only appoint temporary vice chancellors for a maximum of six months and only based on state government recommendations.

The court also mandated that the government propose qualified candidates for temporary appointments until permanent vice chancellors are appointed.

In response, the government submitted a list of three nominees for each position. However, instead of selecting from this list, the governor opted to escalate the matter to the Supreme Court.

On July 31, the Supreme Court ruled that the Kerala governor has the authority to appoint temporary vice chancellors until permanent ones are designated. The court also encouraged both the chancellor and the government to amicably resolve the situation to facilitate the appointment of regular vice chancellors.

Following this, on August 1, Arlekar referenced the Supreme Court's ruling and reinstated Thomas and Sivaprasad as interim vice chancellors.

On Tuesday, the Kerala government challenged these reappointments in the Supreme Court, contending that the governor acted without consulting the government.

During the hearing on Wednesday, the state referenced section 13(7) of the Technological University Act, which stipulates that the chancellor may appoint a temporary vice chancellor only upon the government's recommendation.

To help resolve the ongoing deadlock, Justice Pardiwala proposed the formation of a search committee as a potential solution.