A forum of former vice-chancellors of state-aided universities has said that some officiating vice-chancellors appointed by the governor in an interim capacity have completed six months and the acts of the universities say interim VCs cannot stay beyond six months.
The acts of the universities they referred to say pending the appointment of a full-term VC, the chancellor (Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose is the ex-officio chancellor of the state-aided universities) may appoint in consultation with the education minister any person to exercise and perform the duties of a VC “for any period not exceeding six months”.
The chancellor on June 1 appointed university professors to exercise and perform the duties of VCs in several universities after the tenures of the VCs who were serving then expired.
The Educationists’ Forum at a news conference on Saturday said as the Supreme
Court in an order in early October had restrained the chancellor from making further appointments on his own, the posts of VCs in these universities had fallen vacant from December 1.
“He cannot appoint anyone as replacement following the court’s order,” Omprakash Mishra of the forum said.
Had the chancellor initiated the process of appointing full-term VCs in consultation with the higher education department through search committees following the advice of the Supreme Court, this crisis wouldn’t have arisen, members of the forum said.
The forum said: “We would like to draw the attention of the government of West Bengal that the legally disputed order of the chancellor in authorising persons of his personal choice to perform the duties of the vice-chancellor is no more valid in these eight universities and in two more universities where the authorised persons have been given additional charge.”
The universities mentioned are Calcutta University, Sanskrit College and University, Diamond Harbour University, Ambedkar University, Kalyani University, Bankura University, Sidho Kanho Birsha University and Kazi Nazrul University.
The two universities with additional charges are WB State University and Kanyashree University.
“As per the act governing the universities, and which has been referred to by the chancellor while ‘appointing’ the incumbents, nobody can be an interim vice-chancellor for more than six months. There is no power conferred on the chancellor to appoint someone beyond six months,” the forum said.
Calls to the chancellor’s WhatsApp numbers and an email from this newspaper went unanswered.
The state government had filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court on August 5 challenging the chancellor’s authority to appoint officiating VCs unilaterally.
The apex court on October 6 restrained the chancellor from making any more appointments of officiating VCs.