Kamal Ghorui
The Supreme Court on Friday, closed the long-running tussle between governor R N Ravi and former chief minister Mamta Banerjee over appointment of Vice Chancellors in universities across West Bengal, bringing an end to the case that had continued for years.The court approved the recommended candidates for the remaining three universities and directed that their appointments be completed after approval from the governor Ravi. With this, the process of appointing Vice Chancellors in all 36 state universities has now been completed.The matter had reached the Supreme Court after a deadlock emerged between the West Bengal government led by Banerjee and the governor, who also serves as Chancellor of state universities. To resolve the issue, the court had earlier formed a search-cum-selection committee headed by former chief justice of India UU Lalit.Based on the committee’s recommendations, Vice Chancellors were appointed in phases over the past several months. On Friday, the bench of chief justice Surya Kant and justice Joymalya Bagchi formally closed the case.The three universities for which appointments were still pending were Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, University of North Bengal and Netaji Subhas Open University.The court directed the West Bengal government to place the approved names before governor R N Ravifor further action.
