Kerala varsity VC appointments: Supreme Court appoints Justice Dhulia to head search committee

New Delhi: Amid the ongoing tussle between the Kerala government and State Governor, the Supreme Court on Monday appointed retired judge, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia as the Chairperson of the Search-cum-Selection Committee to shortlist names of regular Vice-Chancellor appointments in two varsities APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology. 

A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and Justice K V Viswanathan, appointed Justice Dhulia as the Chairperson of the Search-cum-Selection Committee, after hearing the Kerala Governor's petition.

The plea challenged the Kerala High Court's decision which quashed the Chancellor's appointment of temporary Vice Chancellor of the University without the state government's recommendation.

The Kerala Governor, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, approached the top court challenging the Kerala HC's verdict.

In the earlier hearing, the top court asked both sides to give four names each, with one nomination from the UGC (University Grants Commission) to resolve the issue of appointment, and had said that it will constitute the Search Committee.

On Monday, the bench sought to know whether both sides, Kerala government and the state Governor had furnished their suggested lists of names for the committee.

Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the Kerala government, submitted a list of four members, while lawyer P Sreekumar, for the Governor side, suggested eight names each for both universities to the top court.

After going through all the names given by both the parties, the court constituted the committee. It said the committee will have five members, comprising two nominees each from the lists provided by the Chancellor and the State, apart from the Chairperson.

Justice Dhulia (retd) will have discretion to either constitute a common committee or separate committees for the two universities.

It added that the committee will prepare a panel of at least three names for each university. The Chairperson has also been requested to constitute the committee within two weeks.

The court said, it was only concerned that “students should not suffer,” and added that it was hopeful that by appointing Justice Dhulia as Chairperson, the impasse would continue to end.

The court also directed the Kerala Education Department to issue an advertisement inviting applications for the post of Vice Chancellor, with a four-week application window, making specific reference to the Supreme Court’s order. All applications, once scrutinised, are to be placed before the Chairperson, it said.

The court further ordered that Justice Dhulia shall be paid an honorarium of Rs 3 lakh for each sitting for these case.

The court, however, said that the larger constitutional issue concerning the Chancellor’s powers will remain pending, saying that it has to be decided at a later stage.