Supreme Court finds 'happy ending' to impasse on appointment of Vice Chancellor's in Kerala varsities

New Delhi: The Supreme Court on Thursday noted the Kerala governor and the state government have agreed to names for the appointment of Vice Chancellors of the A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University and Kerala University of Digital Sciences.

Terming it "a very happy ending to this saga", a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan said that the consensus was alluding the government and the chancellor.

"When the doors of this court were knocked, we were deeply concerned about the plight of the students, their parents, and the teaching and non-teaching staff….our concern was for all the stakeholders. They were unfortunately caught in the crossfire," the bench said.

The court then appointed former SC judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and entrusted him with the task of recommending at least three names for VC in two universities. 

"Today, we are happy to record 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 empanelled candidates. We place on record our gratitude for the good office that Justice Dhulia has brought to bear on this matter. Our endeavour was to ensure that institutions have a permanent head," the bench said.

At the outset, Attorney General R Venkataramani, appearing for the governor, informed the bench that the matter is resolved and this has been duly communicated to the committee headed by Justice Dhulia.

The court said, a university cannot run without the Vice Chancellor as he has an important role to play, and emphasized that this case illustrates how timely and decisive intervention can go a long way in protecting the rights of citizens.

On December 11, the court, noting the continuous deadlock between the Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Governor-cum-Chancellor Rajendra Arlekar, asked the committee headed by Justice Dhulia to recommend one name each for appointing Vice Chancellors in two technical universities.