Calcutta High Court sets aside reappointment of 24 Vice-Chancellors

The lawyers representing the petitioner who filed a PIL said that they may approach the court again challenging the three-month extension order of the Governor to the Vice-Chancellors 

The Calcutta High Court has set aside the West Bengal Education Department’s decision to reappoint 24 Vice-Chancellors of State-aided universities, on the grounds that these appointments were “unsustainable and without the authority of law”.

These appointments were made without the approval of the Governor who is ex-officio Chancellor of the State-aided universities. The appointments were done during the regime of former West Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.

Also read: West Bengal Governor resolves imbroglio in Vice-Chancellor appointments

According to the officials of the State Higher Education Department, the order is not likely to have an impact on the present situation, as the present Governor, C.V. Ananda Bose, had, a few weeks ago, accepted the resignation of the 24 V-Cs and given an extension for a period of three months.

“The appointment of those respondent Vice-Chancellors who are appointed, reappointed, whose tenure extended or who are given additional charge by the order of the State Government or who do not possess minimum eligibility condition or appointed without following the due procedure are held to be unsustainable and without the authority of law. Therefore, they have no right to continue as Vice-Chancellors by virtue of such unsustainable orders,” a Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj said in the judgment on March 14.

The State’s Education Minister, Bratya Basu, said the appointment of Vice-Chancellors at present is with the consent of the Governor.

“We are fully in agreement with the Honourable High Court observations that without the consent of the Governor, the State government cannot appoint Vice-Chancellors. At present, the Vice-Chancellors who are appointed are with the consent of the Governor,” the Minister said. He added that the situation was different in the past when Jagdeep Dhankhar was Governor of the State and it could not be compared with the present situation.