Coming as a big blow to Mamata Banerjee-led government in West Bengal, the Calcutta HC on March 14, 2023, ruled that the State has no right to appoint, re-appoint, or extend the tenures of Vice Chancellors. Having said this, the High Court also cancelled the appointment of Vice Chancellors in 29 state-run universities made by the TMC government.
Hearing a public interest litigation challenging amendments made to the law by the state govt in 2012 to 2014, a division bench comprising of Chief Judge of the Calcutta High Court Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj further said that considering the importance of the post of vice-chancellor in the university, it is essential that the appointment of Vice-Chancellors should be strictly in accordance with the provisions of law.
The court said that the amendments made to the West Bengal Universities Act in 2012 and 2014 by the Mamata Banerjee government cannot be sustained, and directed the govt to make suitable amendments to make them compatible with the law. The Court found that the amendments violated the established norms of VC appointments as determined in UGC regulations. The court also said that a state govt can’t make laws that violate UGC rules.
“This Court has taken note of the importance of the post of vice-chancellor in the university, therefore, it is essential that the appointment of the vice-chancellor should be strictly in accordance with the law. It would not be in the interest of the students and administration of the universities to continue the concerned respondents as vice chancellor of the university once it is found that they have been appointed without following the due procedure and contrary to the provisions of the Act and that too by an authority not competent to appoint,” the bench said in its 46-page judgment.
“Therefore, their appointment is contrary to the provisions of the UGC Regulations, 2018. It is also undisputed that the search committee formed for the appointment of all the VCs did not have one member nominated by the Chairman, UGC, therefore, their appointments are contrary to the UGC Regulations, 2018,” the bench opined.
Significantly, the procedure prescribed under the University Grants Commission (UGC) Rules, 2018 is that a VC be appointed by a ‘search committee’ comprised of a representative from the UGC, the State University, and the Governor.
The State government amended this system or procedure by changing the West Bengal Universities Law Act, which replaced the mandated representation of the UGC with that of the State government.
After the West Bengal government led by Mamata Banerjee arbitrarily made these amendments, it continued to appoint and re-appoint vice-chancellors at state-run universities. In some cases, the tenure of certain VCs was also increased.
Notably, in the case of State of West Bengal vs Anindya Sundar Das, the Supreme Court ruled last year that where the chancellor (Governor) has the authority to select or reappoint the vice-chancellor, the State government cannot usurp that authority by altering the statute.
Citing this order, the Calcutta High Court on Tuesday stated that since the power to appoint, reappoint and extension of tenure has been delegated to the Governor, the state government cannot take over the powers based on the amendments.
The court also noted that in some of the Vice Chancellors in the 29 universities had been appointed by the Governor, however, their tenures were extended by the state government by surpassing the Governor.
“Hence, the orders extending their tenure as vice chancellor passed by the State government cannot be sustained. When the State has no power to appoint or reappoint the vice-chancellor, the State cannot appoint a vice-chancellor by giving the additional charge, therefore orders passed by the State government giving additional charge of vice-chancellor are also bad in law,” read the order passed by the High Court.
Jagdeep Dhankar alleges West Bengal govt appointed several VCs to universities without Raj Bhavan’s consent
It is pertinent to note here that last year, the then Governor of West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankar, had raised concerns over the manner in which the VCs were being appointed in the State. He had alleged that the state government had appointed several Vice-Chancellors to universities without Raj Bhavan’s consent. Dhankhar had written on Twitter that vice-chancellors of 25 universities in the state were appointed illegally without his approval.
On this issue, Dhankhar had openly called out CM Mamata Banerjee and Education Minister Bratya Basu seeking a response from them over their directive. He also called out the re-appointment of Sonali Chakravarti as the VC a ‘classic case of patronage’.
Following the allegation, Mamata Banerjee’s cabinet announced that the Chief Minister would take over as chancellor of all state-run universities. This meant that Banerjee would replace Jagdeep Dhankhar, who was the then Governor of the state and had the responsibility of serving as the chancellor of state-run universities in Bengal.
