Appointment of Vice Chancellors: What happened in dispute?
For the last few years, there has been a conflict between non-BJP governments and governors in many states over the appointment of vice-chancellors of universities. This is because the governors are appointed by the central government and many times take decisions different from the choice of the state governments. In 2021, the then governor of kerala Arif Mohammad Khan opposed the reappointment of Kannur university Vice Chancellor Gopinath Ravindran. After this controversy, in 2023, the kerala Legislative assembly passed a law according to which renowned academicians would be made the chancellor of the university instead of the governor. However, this law is yet to get the approval of the President.
The karnataka government also wants that it should get more freedom in appointing vice-chancellors in the universities of its state. For this, in december 2024, the karnataka Legislative assembly passed a law to make the chief minister the Chancellor in place of the governor in the 'Karnataka State Rural Development and panchayati Raj University'. However, this law is yet to get the approval of the Governor.
The matter reached the supreme court on the appointment of Vice Chancellors in West Bengal
There is a legal battle going on between the governor and the State government in West bengal regarding the appointment of Vice Chancellors. In june 2023, governor CV anand Bose single-handedly appointed interim Vice Chancellors in 13 state universities. The state government challenged this decision in the calcutta high court, but the court upheld the decision of the Governor. After this, the state government challenged the decision of the high court in the supreme Court. In July 2024, the supreme court appointed former Chief Justice of india UU Lalit as the head of separate search-selection committees to select candidates for the post of Vice Chancellor.
Earlier, the West bengal Legislative assembly passed the 'University Law (Amendment) Bill 2023'. According to this law, the chief minister will be made Chancellor in place of the governor in all the universities of the state. However, this bill is yet to get the approval of the Governor.
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