The Supreme Court on Friday came down heavily on Kerala Governor and Chancellor Rajendra Arlekar for failing to act on the Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia committee report regarding the appointment of vice chancellors for two state universities. The court said the report was “not just an ordinary piece of paper” and directed Arlekar to take a decision within a week.
A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan passed the direction after the Kerala government complained that, despite Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan forwarding recommendations based on the Dhulia panel’s findings, the Governor had taken no action.
“The report has been forwarded to the chief minister. The chief minister in turn has forwarded the report to the chancellor. It is expected of the chancellor to now look into the report filed by the committee headed by Justice Dhulia,” the bench noted.
The Chancellor’s counsel told the court that although the report and the Chief Minister’s communication had been received, the records related to the shortlisted names had not reached Raj Bhavan yet.
The bench was unimpressed.
“We fail to understand why the non-receipt of the records is coming in the way of looking into the report,” Justice Pardiwala observed. “This is not just an ordinary piece of paper. A former judge of the Supreme Court has looked into it. This is the law of the land. You are bound to look into the report and take an appropriate call.”
The court directed the Governor’s counsel to step outside and obtain clear instructions on the timeline for taking a decision. When the counsel sought more time citing “some issues”, the bench cut him short.
“We are not allowing further arguments… When the decision is placed before us, we will decide if it is right or wrong,” Justice Pardiwala said.
The matter will be heard next on December 5.
Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the state, said that to the best of his knowledge, all relevant records had already been forwarded to the Chancellor.
At the outset, Gupta told the bench that despite the Chief Minister’s recommendation based on the Dhulia panel report, “no decision has been taken till now”.
The impasse over the appointment of vice chancellors for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences had prompted the Supreme Court on August 18 to appoint former judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia to head a panel to identify suitable candidates. The committee was appointed with the consent of all parties.
Justice Dhulia, who retired from the Supreme Court on August 9, prepared and submitted his report thereafter.
Meanwhile, the Governor has also moved the Supreme Court seeking to exclude the Chief Minister from the VC selection process, arguing that neither of the universities envisages any role for the CM in appointments.
The Chancellor has additionally challenged a Kerala High Court ruling that dealt with the earlier appointment of Professor K. Sivaprasad as Vice Chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University — an appointment the state government said violated Section 13(7) of the 2015 Act, which caps interim appointments at six months.
The Supreme Court has made it clear that the Governor must now take a final call on the Dhulia report within a week. Once the decision is placed before it on December 5, the court will examine its correctness.
