The West Bengal government on Thursday appointed Calcutta University Pro-Vice Chancellor Asis Kumar Chattopadhyay as the interim Vice-Chancellor of the institution. The move was made days after the Supreme Court upheld an order of the Calcutta High Court setting aside the government’s decision to reappoint Sonali Chakraborty Banerjee as Vice-Chancellor of the university.
In a notification on Thursday, the higher education department said that Mr Chattopadhyay was appointed "to exercise the power and perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor of CU for a period of three months or till the appointment of a regular Vice-Chancellor on recommendation by the Search Committee or till he attains the age of 70 years, or until further orders."
A search committee has been formed after the Supreme Court’s order. The Supreme Court On 11 October upheld a September order of the high court which set aside the West Bengal government's decision to reappoint Ms Chakraborty Banerjee as the Vice-Chancellor of the CU after the expiry of her first term on 27 August, 2021, though former Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had opposed it.