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.
Justice Pardiwala expressed the hope that such dialogue would continue in the future. “I hope in the future they keep talking like this and arrive at an understanding in the larger interest of the country,” he remarked.
In a detailed order passed today, the Bench formally recorded its appreciation for the manner in which the dispute was resolved and commended the role played by the committee headed by Justice Dhulia.
“Today, we are happy to record that both the Chancellor and the Government have in one voice reported that the appointments to the post of VCs in the two universities have been made from the list of panel candidates,” the Court said, adding that it placed on record its “gratitude for the good office that Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia has brought to bear on this matter.”
The Court noted that its primary objective had been to ensure that the universities were not left without permanent VCs. “Our endeavour was to ensure that the institutions have a permanent head, which alone would ensure that the interests of all stakeholders are safeguarded,” the order stated.
Observing that its intervention had yielded results, the Bench said the case demonstrated the importance of timely judicial action. “Two prominent universities in Kerala, which deal with cutting-edge subjects, were rudderless for a long time… the only reason was that a consensus was eluding the Government and the Chancellor,” the Court noted.
The judges said their concern had always been for students, parents, and teaching and non-teaching staff who were “caught in the crossfire” of the institutional deadlock.
By issuing the appointment orders, the authorities had now “gracefully brought down the curtains” on the dispute, the Court said, also placing on record its appreciation for Venkataramani, senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, and their assisting teams.
The Court clarified, however, that the larger legal questions raised in the petitions remain open and will be examined separately at a later stage.
Before the hearing concluded, senior advocate Gupta told the Bench that the resolution would not have been possible without the Court’s intervention.
