The Supreme Court on Wednesday granted three more weeks to Bengal governor C.V. Ananda Bose to fill the remaining 17 posts of vice-chancellors in the state.

The appointment process had been stalled for over a year amid a tussle between the governor, who is ex-officio chancellor of all state-aided universities, and the chief minister over who has the authority to finalise the appointments.

The apex court bench of Justice Surya Kant, Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan scheduled the next hearing for February 5, after being informed by attorney general R. Venkataramani, appearing for Bose, that of the 34 names finalised by a search committee, 17 had been cleared by the governor.

“Please give me some more time. Some positive developments have taken place. Seventeen names have been cleared.... Seventeen more are to be cleared. There is some kind of disagreement. If I can do some more mediation…” Venkataramani told the bench while seeking more time to resolve the issue.

Justice Kant, heading the bench, remarked: “The moment there is a disagreement, we will have to spend time. So please save our time! Use your good offices to clear maximum names.”

Senior advocate Abhishek Manu Singhvi, appearing for the Bengal government, said the attorney general’s statement would suggest at first glance that a “good number” of names had been cleared.

But there are 17 other names which the chancellor had yet to clear. Despite seeking time, he submitted, the chancellor is not clearing the names.

Venkataramani said the issue involved “very complex exchange of minds” but assured the bench that he hoped to bring down the number of uncleared names.

The bench verbally gave the governor three weeks to do the needful.

In Calcutta, state education minister Bratya Basu told reporters: “The court has asked the chancellor to appoint VCs in the next three weeks. The Supreme Court is seized of the issue. The chief minister is aware of the developments. I don’t think it will cause any crisis.”

On July 8, 2024, the apex court had constituted a “search-cum-selection committee” for all universities in Bengal headed by the former Chief Justice of India U.U. Lalit to break the stalemate between chief minister Mamata Banerjee and governor Bose for the appointment of VCs in state-aided universities.

The apex court had passed the order while dealing with an appeal by the Bengal government and some PIL petitioners challenging Calcutta High Court’s concurrent judgments of a single-judge bench and a division bench upholding the interim appointments made by the governor to various universities.

The top court had passed the directions under the Supreme Court’s extraordinary powers under Article 142 with the consent of the disputing sides: “We will not entertain any objection from any side for non-compliance.”

The bench said that in case of any differences between the chief minister and the governor, the Supreme Court would make the final decision.