State Govt Has No Power To Appoint Or Reappoint Vice-Chancellors Of State Universities: Calcutta High Court Quashes 29 Appointments

In a significant order, the Calcutta High Court has ruled that the State has no authority to appoint, re-appoint, or extend the tenures of Vice Chancellors of the universities in the state of West Bengal.It has further held that the appointment of Vice-Chancellors should be strictly in accordance with the provisions of law. The division bench comprising of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj, have ordered the removal of Vice-Chancellors of nearly 29 universities in the State, who were appointed/re-appointed by the state government based on the amendments to the West Bengal Universities Act carried out in 2012 and 2014.The order came in a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) that was filed challenging the validity of the amendments carried out in 2012 and 2014 stating that they are unconstitutional and in complete violation of UGC regulations. The petition had further challenged the appointment of some Vice-Chancellors, on the ground that they were appointed without proper search committees, did not meet minimum eligibility criteria, or were appointed without approval of the Chancellor, and were therefore in defiance of the UGC regulations.Submissions of the Petitioner’s Counsel:Provisions of the Act of 2012 and 2014 run counter to the 2018 UGC Regulations as the minimum qualifications prescribed in the impugned Acts for the post of Vice-Chancellors stands diluted and these provisions prescribed minimum qualification lower than the one prescribed in the UGC Regulations, 2018.In terms of the UGC Regulations 2018, the Search Committee for appointment of Vice-Chancellors must have a nominee of the Chairman (UGC) which was missing in the Search Committee formed for appointment of the respondent Vice-Chancellors.The UGC Regulations, created under the UGC Act, 1956, hold statutory force and are applicable in West Bengal, even if the state hasn't adopted the UGC Scheme. In support of this submission, reliance was placed upon the Supreme Court judgement Professor (Dr.) Sreejith P.S. vs. Dr. Rajasree M.S. and Others reported in 2022 SCC OnLine SC 1473.Some respondent Vice-Chancellors have been appointed by the State taking recourse to the removal of the difficulty clause which is not permissible. In support of this submission, reliance was placed upon the Supreme Court judgement State of West Bengal vs. Anindya Sundar Das and Others reported in (2022) SCC OnLine SC 1382. Appointing authority for the office of Vice-Chancellor is the Chancellor, therefore, the appointments made by the State cannot be sustained and that if the initial appointment itself is defective, then extension by the proper authority cannot cure the defect. In support of this submission, reliance was placed upon the Supreme Court judgement Baharul Islam and Others vs. Indian Medical Association and Others reported in 2023 SCC OnLine SC 79.The 2018 UGC Regulations are mandatory whereas 2010 UGC Regulations were directory since they were applicable to those who had adopted the Scheme.There is no question of exercising discretion while issuing the writ of quo warranto against the respondent Vice-Chancellors because they are holders of high position and it is not the issue of their livelihood as they will go back to their original places.Submissions of the Advocate General (appearing on behalf of the State):A review petition has been filed before the Hon’ble Supreme Court against the judgement in the case of Anindya Sundar Das and Others (supra), and that in the Division Bench judgement in this case, the applicability and effect of UGC Regulations has been decided as pure question of law.UGC Regulations 2018 are not applicable in the State of West Bengal and they are not binding on the Universities established under the State Act. By the UGC Regulations 2018, the earlier Regulations have been superseded, therefore, the UGC Regulations, 2010 are no longer existing from the date of publication of UGC Regulations, 2018.UGC Regulations 2018 have been published subsequent to the Scheme of the Central Government dated 2nd of November, 2017.Implementation of the revised scale under the Scheme was subject to acceptance of all the conditions.UGC Regulations are directory in nature and they are not binding on the State if not adopted by the State. In support of this submission, reliance was placed upon the judgement in the matter of Kalyani Mathivanan vs. K. V. Jeyaraj and Others reported in (2015) 6 SCC 363, he has submitted thatUGC Regulations, 2018 have not been adopted by the State, therefore, the judgement relied upon by learned counsel for the petitioner in this regard are distinguishable.Most of the respondent Vice-Chancellors fulfil the minimum qualification of 10 years of experience.State can take recourse of removal of the difficulty clause for appointment and reappointment of Vice-Chancellors.Relief of the writ of quo warranto is discretionary and discretion may not be exercised against the Vice-Chancellors who fulfil the...

State Govt Has No Power To Appoint Or Reappoint Vice-Chancellors Of State Universities: Calcutta High Court Quashes 29 Appointments

Bhavya Singh

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