The Supreme Court on Monday issued notices to the Centre and the principal secretary to Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose on an appeal relating to the governor’s refusal of assent to The West Bengal Universities (Amendment) Bill, 2022, that sought to vest the chief minister with the power to appoint vice-chancellors to state-run varsities.
A bench of Chief Justice D.Y. Chandrachud and Justice J.B. Pardiwala sought responses within four weeks on the appeal filed by PIL petitioner Sayan Mukherjee challenging the October 16, 2023, order of Calcutta High Court that decided to examine the maintainability of the PIL before deciding on the merits of the issue.
Earlier, a division bench of the high court had in September 2023 issued notice to the principal secretary to the governor and the Centre on Mukherjee’s petition.
However, the high court subsequently modified its September 2023 order and instead first decided to examine the maintainability of the PIL. Aggrieved, the petitioner appealed the high court order in the apex court.
The high court had modified the order after the Centre questioned the maintainability of the PIL and also pointed out the fact that under Article 361 of the Constitution the President of India or the governor of a state “shall not be answerable to any court
for the exercise and performance of the powers and duties of is office or any act done or purporting to be done by him in the exercise and performance of those powers and duties”.
The petitioner’s argument was that the governor cannot indefinitely withhold his assent to the bill passed in June 2022. Mukherjee argued that the governor had only three choices in such situations — grant assent, send it back to the House for reconsideration or refer the issue for consideration by the President.
On December 1, 2023, a bench of the apex court led by Justice Surya Kant had asked governor Bose and and chief minister Mamata Banerjee to sit across the table and thrash out their differences over the appointment of vice-chancellors to various universities.
On September 15, 2023, the bench had asked the Bengal government, Bose and the UGC to suggest three to five names each to shortlist the candidates for a court-appointed “search committee” to pick new VCs.
The court had passed the directions while dealing with a special leave petition filed by the Bengal government against a June 2023 judgment by a Calcutta High Court division bench dismissing a PIL that sought quashing of the appointment/authorisation of VCs unilaterally by the governor in state universities.