Mamata Banerjee to choose VC says Supreme Court
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee retains authority in selecting vice-chancellors for West Bengal universities, as the Supreme Court refrains from intervening.
In a development that is sure to raise a few eyebrows and likely prompt some lively debate, the Supreme Court of India has made it abundantly clear that it has no intention of intervening in the current process of appointing vice-chancellors in West Bengal’s universities. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, as things stand, will retain her role in selecting preferred candidates from a shortlist and forwarding the same to the Governor, who acts as the Chancellor. This decision came from a bench headed by Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan, who concluded that further meddling at this stage would merely delay the entire process. A subsequent hearing is set for the 9th of December.
The controversy stems from the long-standing feud between the Chief Minister and the Governor over who holds the reins in university appointments. To put the matter to rest, the Supreme Court had previously, on the 8th of July, formed a “Search-cum-Selection Committee,” headed by former Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit. The task of the committee? To whittle down the candidate pool to three names for each university, based on alphabetical order, and submit the shortlist to the Chief Minister. The Chief Minister, in turn, would rank them according to her preference, placing her top choice at the head of the list. Should she have any qualms about a particular candidate, those objections would need to be stated clearly. Once this list is prepared, it would then be forwarded to the Governor, the Chancellor of the universities.
However, not content with the arrangement, the Governor petitioned for an amendment to this process. His request was that the Lalit Committee itself send its ranked list directly to the Chief Minister, thereby limiting her role. While a bench led by Justice Surya Kant appeared to entertain the notion on the 3rd of October, the state government’s counsel, Jaydeep Gupta, opposed this request. He pointed out that the process was already well underway, with names publicly announced.
The crux of the matter lies in the inevitable question: what happens when the Chief Minister and the Chancellor find themselves at loggerheads over a candidate? Justice Surya Kant made it clear that while the Governor’s request isn’t dismissed outright, the Supreme Court won’t be stepping in for now. Should there be further conflict between the Chief Minister and the Chancellor, the matter could then be brought back before the Court. Justice Ujjal Bhuyan’s words echoed this sentiment, noting that intervening at this juncture would result in unnecessary delays.
Thus, for the moment, Mamata Banerjee will maintain her authority in shaping the future of Bengal’s universities. Should the process face any bumps along the way, rest assured that this legal tug-of-war will continue, perhaps with more twists than a British crime drama. Whether or not peace prevails between the Chief Minister and the Governor remains to be seen, but for now, the show goes on.
In the grand tradition of judicial sparring, it appears we are in for a few more rounds before this bout is declared over. Let’s hope the students, at the very least, are spared the brunt of this political circus. After all, the future of higher education in the state should ideally be the main attraction, not a mere sideshow in a larger game of one-upmanship.
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