THE SUPREME COURT was informed on Thursday that the long-standing impasse between the Kerala government and the Governor over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to two State universities has finally been resolved, following direct discussions between the Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and the Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar.
A Bench comprising Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan was told that Vice-Chancellors have now been appointed to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology, drawing from the panel recommended by a court-appointed committee headed by former Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia.
Attorney General R. Venkataramani, appearing for the Governor, and Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta, representing the State government, jointly informed the Court that consensus had been reached and appointments made. The Attorney General said the breakthrough came after the Governor himself reached out to the Chief Minister.
“I have been talking with the Governor. When this deadlock was going on, the Governor himself called the Chief Minister and they had a meeting. And that is how it got resolved finally,” Venkataramani told the Court.
