SC appoints ex-CJI UU Lalit as head of panel to oversee appt of VCs in Bengal

The Supreme Court on Monday appointed former Chief Justice of India Uday Umesh Lalit as chairperson of the searchcumselection committee for all the universities in West Bengal A bench of justices Surya Kant and KV Viswanathan said We hereby appoint Justice Uday Umesh Lalit Former Chief Justice of India as Chairperson of the SearchcumSelection Committees for all the Universities atOptions key d0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7 format iframe height 90 width 728 params The top court was hearing the West Bengal Govt petition challenging the Calcutta High Court order to dismiss the state government plea against the Governors decision to appoint around 28 interim vicechancellors The Mamta Banerjeeled government in West Bengal was having differences with Governor C V Ananda Bose over the supervision role on such appointmentsWe may hasten to add at this stage that notwithstanding some variance in the provisions of the Acts under which Vice Chancellors are to be appointed especially with regard to the composition of the SearchcumSelection Committee we deem it appropriate to invoke our powers under Article 142 of the Constitution to do complete justice in this matter and pass this common order for constitution of SearchcumSelection Committee for all the subject Universities the top court saidThe top court said that its decision to constitute SearchcumSelection Committee is to infuse transparency independence fairness and impartiality to ensure that the persons possessing the highest level of competence and integrity capable of leading the University by example are shortlisted The top court also said that the recommendations made by the searchcumSelection committee shall be put up before the Chief Minister for necessary considerationIn case the Chief Minister State of West Bengal has reasons to believe that any shortlisted person is unsuitable for appointment as Vice Chancellor the remarks to this effect along with supporting material and the original record of the recommendation made by the SearchcumSelection Committee shall be put up before the learned Chancellor within two weeks The Chief Minister shall be entitled to recommend the shortlisted names in order of preference for appointment as Vice Chancellors the top court saidThe learned Chancellor shall accord his approval save and except when there is a difference of opinion within two weeks of receipt of file from the Chief Minister of the State The Department of Higher Education Government of West Bengal or any other concerned Department of the State Government are hereby directed to notify the appointment within one week from the date of receipt of approval from the learned Chancellor of the University the court saidIn the cases where the Chief Minister of the State has objected to the inclusion of any name in the panel and such objection is not acceptable to the Chancellor or where the Chancellor has an objection against empanelment of any particular name for which he has assigned his own reasons all such files shall be put up before this Court We make it clear that a final decision in this regard shall be taken by this Court after giving reasonable opportunity of being heard to the objectors the court saidThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever