The Supreme Court on Monday stepped in to break the deadlock between the Kerala government and former governor Arif Mohammed Khan over the appointment of vice-chancellors, appointing former judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia as chairperson of the search-cum-selection committee for two universities – APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University (KTU) and the University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology.
“We firmly believe that this impasse should be resolved at the earliest,” noted a bench of justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan, while entrusting Justice Dhulia with the task of steering the process. He has been authorised to head a five-member committee, which may either be common to both universities or separate, at his discretion. The panel will include two members suggested by the governor, in his capacity as chancellor, and two from the state government, but the final composition will rest with Justice Dhulia. The court directed that the names of committee members be communicated to it once finalised.
The bench further ordered that each committee prepare a panel of at least three names, arranged alphabetically, for consideration as regular vice-chancellors. Justice Dhulia has been asked to requested constitute the committee within two weeks.
The state’s higher education department was directed to issue advertisements inviting applications for the posts, giving four weeks’ time for candidates to apply. These applications are to be scrutinised within one week and then forwarded to Justice Dhulia, who will oversee the shortlisting process. The committee has been asked to complete its task within a month thereafter.
To facilitate his role, the court directed that Justice Dhulia be paid an honorarium of ₹3 lakh per sitting, along with office space, secretarial support, transit accommodation in Thiruvananthapuram, an official vehicle, and other facilities befitting his position.
The bench clarified that larger questions arising from the ongoing legal dispute between the state and the Governor will be taken up after the present exercise is completed.
The order originates from a petition by the governor, who challenged a Kerala high court ruling upholding the state government’s authority to recommend temporary vice-chancellors. The state, meanwhile, filed an application against a recent notification by the governor appointing Dr K Sivaprasad as interim VC of KTU. Attorney General R Venkataramani represented the Governor, while senior advocate Jaideep Gupta appeared for the state.
On July 30, the court had expressed displeasure at the continuing stalemate and urged both sides to commence the process of regular appointments without politicisation, keeping the interests of students and institutions in mind. The controversy had originally been triggered by the governor’s November 27, 2024 notification on VC appointments, which the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government strongly opposed. The Kerala HC struck down the Governor’s order on July 14 this year, prompting the litigation before the Supreme Court.
Significantly, Kerala is not the only state where such disputes have reached the top court. The Supreme Court is also monitoring a case from West Bengal, where the government alleged prolonged inaction by the Raj Bhavan on clearing names of VCs for 36 universities. In that matter, the court appointed former Chief Justice of India Uday U Lalit to head selection panels, leading to 34 appointments so far.