SC defers hearing on Kerala governor's plea against CM Pinarayi Vijayan

The Supreme Court on Monday (September 22) sought to postpone the hearing of the application submitted by the governor of Kerala, Rajendra Arlekar, which seeks the removal of the state’s chief minister, Pinarayi Vijayan, from a panel responsible for recommending vice-chancellors (VCs) of two state universities, until the report from former apex court judge Sudhanshu Dhulia is received.

The request was brought up by Attorney General R Venkataramani, representing the governor, in front of a bench comprising Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan.

Indicating urgency, the top law officer requested the bench to take up the plea for hearing. According to him, the question of who has the authority to appoint VCs could lead to complications once the panel’s recommendations are given.

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'Applications not obstructing'

“I have a very small request. These applications should not be seen as obstructing any process of Justice Dhulia in this matter. But a subsequent order passed by another bench has restored the chancellor as the appointing authority,” he said.

Vankataramani was referring to an order of the bench led by Justice Surya Kant in the dispute between West Bengal governor and the VCs, where the court appointed former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit to mediate.

The bench, however, recently modified a section of its order, clarifying that the Justice Lalit-led committee need not adhere to the order of preference provided by the chief minister of Bengal.

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According to the attorney general, this modification effectively restores the governor’s role as chancellor in the appointment process, raising questions about the functioning of the Kerala panel.

SC wants to wait for Justice Dhulia report

“Should we not wait for the report of Justice Dhulia,” Justice Pardiwala asked, indicating that the court would take a holistic view only after receiving the committee’s findings.

“Let the report come. We will work out the modalities. We will balance… the day it comes, we will look into the report and the modified order,” the bench said, before deferring the matter.

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Governor Arlekar moved the apex court seeking the exclusion of Vijayan from the selection process of the VCs for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences Innovation and Technology.

The governor, who is also the chancellor of both the state-run institutions, said neither of them envisioned any role for the chief minister in the selection process.

Role of the CM

The plea also highlighted the role of the chief minister in the entire selection process for appointment of VCs for the two universities and referred to "State of West Bengal v. Dr Sanat Kumar Ghosh and Others" the directions of which had been applied in the present case.

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Section 8 (1) of the Calcutta University Act, 1979 provides for the role of the minister of the state in the selection process there, the plea added.

“Since the minister is a part of the selection process in the appointment of Vice Chancellors in the State of West Bengal, this court made the Chief Minister a part of the said process,” the governor said.

However, it pointed out that the university enactments — the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University Act and the Kerala Digital University Act — had no provision for having the minister for higher education or the state government as a part of the selection process for recommendation for appointment of VCs.

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"Therefore, in the humble submission of the application, the role of CM for selection of VCs as mentioned in the order dated August 18, may be modified by this court,” the plea sought.

Top court appointed Justice Dhulia

On August 18, the apex court appointed Justice Dhulia as the chairperson of the committee for selecting VCs in the two universities and said the chief minister had a role in their selection.

The plea, however, contended the chief minister’s involvement would violate the principle against “a person judging his own cause,” a norm embedded in the University Grants Commission (UGC) Regulations.

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“The Chief Minister, being the Executive Head of the State, is connected with the number of government colleges, managed by the government and affiliated to the university. Therefore, as per UGC Regulations he cannot have any role whatsoever in the appointment of vice chancellors,” the application said.

Arlekar said he was not seeking the modifications of the August 18 order with regard to the appointment of Justice Dhulia as chairperson of the search-cum-selection committee tasked with finalising the VC appointments and “no objection” to the judge heading the committee.

The plea, however, said the constitutional head of the state was opposed to the participation of nominees suggested by the state government.

(With agency inputs)