THE STATE OF WEST BENGALversusDR. SANAT KUMAR GHOSH AND ORS.

                   [2024] 7 S.C.R. 69 : 2024 INSC 469

                       The State of West Bengal
                                   v.
                   Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh and Ors.
           (Special Leave To Appeal (Civil) No. 17403 of 2023)
                                   08 July 2024
              [Surya Kant* and K.V. Viswanathan, JJ.]

                             Issue for Consideration
       Matter pertains to the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in the
       State-aided Universities in the State of West Bengal.

                                    Headnotes†
       Universities – Appointment of Vice-Chancellors in 35 State-
       aided Universities in the State of West Bengal – Dispute
       between the State Government and the Governor of West
       Bengal-Chancellor of subject Universities, as regards the
       appointment of regular Vice-Chancellors – No consensus
       between the authorities in the matter of constitution and
       composition of Search Committees for shortlisting the
       candidates for appointment as Vice Chancellors – Neither
       regular Vice-Chancellors nor interim or ad-hoc Vice-Chancellors
       permitted to be appointed – Invocation of power u/Art. 142:
       Held: Order passed for constitution of Search-cum-Selection
       Committee for all the subject Universities – It is resolved to constitute
       Search-cum-Selection Committee(s) of the same composition so
       as to avoid any confusion – Endeavour is to infuse transparency,
       independence, fairness, and impartiality so as to ensure that the
       persons possessing the highest level of competence and integrity
       and are capable of leading the University – Experts who are eminent
       scientists, educationists, jurists, subject experts, and administrators
       in their own right, are shortlisted – Appointment of Hon’ble Mr. Justice
       Uday Umesh Lalit, Former Chief Justice of India as Chairperson
       of the Search-cum-Selection Committees for all the Universities in
       West Bengal – Chairperson authorized to constitute separate or
       joint Search-cum-Selection Committees for one or more Universities,
       keeping in view the nature of subjects/disciplines in which education
       is being imparted therein – Chairperson to nominate 4 persons out
       of the empaneled experts, whom he finds capable of short-listing
       suitable names for appointment as Vice-Chancellors – Chairperson

* Author
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      to constitute the Search-cum-Selection Committees for the group
      or the individual Universities as early as possible – Chairperson
      to be paid an honorarium of Rs. 3 lakhs for every effective day of
      proceedings of the Search Committee, until the entire process is
      completed – The Chief Minister, State of West Bengal to recommend
      the shortlisted names in order of preference for appointment as
      Vice-Chancellors – In case the Chief Minister has reasons to
      believe that any short-listed person is unsuitable for appointment
      as Vice-Chancellor, the remarks to this effect to be put up before
      the Chancellor – In cases where said objection is not acceptable
      to the Chancellor or where the Chancellor has objection against
      empanelment of any particular name for which he has assigned
      his own reasons, all such files to be put up before this Court –
      Final decision in this regard to be taken by this Court after giving
      reasonable opportunity of being heard to the objectors – State of
      West Bengal to file the Status Report in respect to compliance of
      the directions issued – West Bengal University Laws (Amendment)
      Act,2012 – West Bengal Laws (Amendment) Act,2014 – Constitution
      of India – Art.142. [Paras 10,12,14-20]

                                 List of Acts
      West Bengal University Laws (Amendment) Act, 2012; West Bengal
      Laws (Amendment) Act, 2014; Calcutta University Act, 1979;
      Constitution of India; University Grants Commission Act, 1956;
      University Grants Commission’s Regulations, 2018.

                              List of Keywords
      Universities; Appointment of Vice-Chancellors; State-aided
      Universities in West Bengal; Appointment of regular Vice-
      Chancellors; Constitution and composition of Search-cum-
      Selection Committees; Interim or ad-hoc Vice-Chancellors; Powers
      u/Art. 142; Appointment of Hon’ble Mr. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit,
      Former Chief Justice of India as Chairperson of the Search-cum-
      Selection Committees for Universities in West Bengal; Honorarium
      of Rs. 3 lakhs to Chairperson; Filing of Status Report.

                             Case Arising From
      CIVIL APPELLATE JURISDICTION: Special Leave To Appeal (Civil)
      No.17403 of 2023
      From the Judgment and Order dated 28.06.2023 of the High Court
      at Calcutta in WPA(P) No.272 of 2023
[2024] 7 S.C.R.                                                       71

     The State of West Bengal v. Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh and Ors.


                        Appearances for Parties
     Dr. Abhishek Manu Singhvi, Jaideep Gupta, Sr. Advs., Sanjay
     Basu, Ms. Astha Sharma, Amit Bhandari, Nipun Saxena, Piyush
     Agarwal, Ms. Shrivalli Kajaria, Srisatya Mohanty, Ms. Anju Thomas,
     Sanjeev Kaushik, Ms. Mantika Haryani, Shreyas Awasthi, Himanshu
     Chakravarty, Ms. Ripul Swati Kumari, Bhanu Mishra, Ms. Muskan
     Surana, Archit Adlakha, Ms. Soumya Saxena, Aditya Raj Pandey,
     Ms. Lihzu Shiney Konyak, Simranjeet Singh Rekhi, Ms. Pratibha
     Yadav, Abhijit Pattanaik, Advs. for the Petitioner.
     Gopal Shankarnarayan, Rana Mukherjee, Sr. Advs., Dr. Chaples
     Bandyopadhyay, Subhasish Bhowmick, Ms. Gargy Basu, Ms. Ananda
     Mayee, Ms. Manisha Pandey, Rahul Kushwaha, Ms. Neerja Sharma,
     Reegan S. Bel, Joydeep Mazumdar, P. Sil, B.K. Pandit, Ms. Shalini
     Kaul, Chandrashekhar A. Chakalabbi, Pijush Biswas, S.K. Pandey,
     Awanish Kumar, Anshul Rai, Abhinav Garg (For M/S. Dharmaprabhas
     Law Associates), Shyam D. Nandan, Rohit Bohra, Priyanshu
     Upadhyay, Viraat Tripathi, Abeer Gobind Shandilya, Anilendra Pandey,
     Manoj Ranjan Sinha, Deepak Sain, Ms. Nisha, Mrigank Prabhakar,
     Ms. Sakshi Banga, Anand Varma, Ayush Gupta, Soumya Dutta, Ms.
     Aditi Gupta, Kunal Chatterji, Ms. Maitrayee Banerjee, Rohit Bansal,
     Advs. for the Respondent.
                Judgment / Order of the Supreme Court
                                    Order
     Surya Kant, J.
     There are approximately [35] state-aided Universities in the State
     of West Bengal. The appointment of their Vice-Chancellors is the
     hallmark of this controversy. It seems that the Petitioner-State of
     West Bengal appointed 24 Vice-Chancellors in the year 2022.
     These appointments, along with the West Bengal University Laws
     (Amendment) Act, 2012 and the West Bengal Laws (Amendment)
     Act, 2014, were challenged before the High Court in a Public Interest
     Litigation. The High Court vide judgement dated 14.03.2023 held
     that the Search Committee constituted by the State Government
     for the selection of those 24 Vice-Chancellors did not have any
     Member nominated by the Chairman of the University Grants
     Commission (UGC) and since the said Search Committee was in
     violation of the UGC’s Act, the appointment of 24 Vice-Chancellors
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      was unsustainable in law. The Division Bench judgment was upheld
      by this Court.
2.    It further seems that the State of West Bengal thereafter made certain
      amendments in the State Universities Act in tune with the UGC’s
      Regulations, 2018. However, instead of resorting to the statutorily
      prescribed procedure for appointment of regular Vice-Chancellors,
      the Minister-in-charge of the Department of Higher Education,
      Government of West Bengal, sent a proposal on 18.05.2023 to the
      Chancellor for extending the tenure of 27 Vice-Chancellors whose
      tenure was about to expire. The Chancellor, on the other hand,
      appointed ‘Interim Vice-Chancellors’ and as many as 28 professors
      were given such assignments. The appointments of these interim/ad-
      hoc/caretaker Vice-Chancellors came to be challenged by Respondent
      No. 1 through a Public Interest Litigation, which the High Court not
      only dismissed vide impugned judgment dated 28-06-2023 but also
      conferred perks and other monetary benefits on its own to these
      acting Vice-Chancellors, a benefit which the Chancellor himself had
      not granted to them.
3.    The Division Bench order, to the extent of granting pay, allowance,
      perks or facilities admissible to a regular Vice-Chancellor, was
      consequently stayed by this Court vide order dated 06.10.2023.
4.    The rift between the State Government, on the one hand, and the
      Governor of West Bengal, who happens to be the Chancellor of
      subject Universities, on the other, is the root cause of stalemate in the
      appointment of regular Vice-Chancellors. To elaborate further, there
      is no consensus between the two sets of authorities in the matter of
      constitution and composition of Search Committees for shortlisting
      the candidates for appointment as Vice Chancellors.
5.    Since we, prima facie, disapproved the Chancellor’s action of
      appointing interim Vice-Chancellors without consulting the State
      Government, all such further appointments were stayed vide order
      dated 06.10.2023.
6.    The chaos has further deepened as neither there are regular Vice-
      Chancellors nor interim or ad-hoc Vice-Chancellors are permitted to
      be appointed. Regardless thereto, the Chancellor has assigned the
      powers of Vice-Chancellors to various persons — not necessarily all
      of them are academicians. The State of West Bengal has strongly
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     The State of West Bengal v. Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh and Ors.


     protested against such a recourse. We, however, do not deem it
     necessary to dwell on that issue at this stage for the reasons stated
     hereinafter:
     (I)    On 15-09-2023, the learned Senior Counsel for the State of
            West Bengal, as well as learned counsel for the Chancellor,
            very fairly suggested that, pending multiple controversies, the
            Search Committee may be constituted by this Court. In order
            to explore that possibility, this Court on 27.09.2023 directed the
            learned senior counsel/counsel for the parties to submit, in a
            tabulated chart, the details of the Universities, the description
            of their subjects/disciplines, existing provisions for constitution
            of Search Committees, as well as the new provision which
            the State of West Bengal had proposed in the Bill awaiting
            assent of the Governor. Counsel for the intervenors were also
            granted liberty to suggest the names of renowned scientists,
            technocrats, administrators, educationists, jurists or any other
            eminent person for the purpose of nomination to the Search
            Committee.
     (II)   On 06.10.2023, the parties sought time to replace certain
            names earlier suggested by them for nomination to the Search
            Committees.
     (III) On 20.11.2023, learned senior counsel for the parties agreed
           to submit a consolidated list of the names proposed by the
           State Government/Chief Minister/Chancellor/UGC and other
           prescribed authorities for the purpose of constituting Search
           Committees.
     (IV) On 01.12.2023, learned Attorney General for India entered
          appearance on behalf of the Chancellor. He assured that the
          names to be suggested by the Chancellor for the constitution
          of Search Committees will be shared with counsels for the
          petitioner/intervenors. Besides granting time in this regard, we
          also impressed upon the learned Attorney General to use his
          good offices to explore an amicable mode of appointment of
          the Vice-Chancellors, in conformity with the Statutes governing
          such appointments.
     (V) It seems that pursuant to the initiative taken by learned Attorney
         General, some meetings were held on 04.12.2023, 13.03.2024
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           and 14.03.2024. These meetings, however, did not yield the
           desired results.
      (VI) On 16.04.2024, learned Attorney General, however, very fairly
           stated that six posts of the Vice-Chancellors will be filled up out
           of the list recommended by the State Government. Eventually,
           on 17.05.2024, we were informed that the State Government
           had sent a list of 15 names for appointment of Vice-Chancellors
           in 15 Universities. The learned Chancellor found 07 of them
           unsuitable and apparently had no objection against the remaining
           08 persons. We, therefore, directed that those 08 names be
           appointed within 10 days. In order to instill confidence on both
           sides, it was observed that the Chief Minister of the State may
           send names of some more eminent persons to fill up the 07
           vacancies of Vice-Chancellors.
      (VII) We have no reason to doubt that the Chief Minister must
            have sent a few more names of eminent personalities and
            the Chancellor hopefully has accorded his approval for their
            appointment. As regard to the left-out Universities, we agreed
            on 17.05.2024, on the joint request of learned senior counsel
            for the parties, that a Search-cum-Selection Committee shall
            be constituted by this Court before the next date of hearing.
7.    This is how we are tasked to constitute the Search-cum-Selection
      Committees.
8.    Learned senior counsel/counsel for the parties are ad idem
      that the appointment of Vice-Chancellors in all the Universities
      are regulated by different Statutes. The academic qualification,
      teaching experience, and some other distinct features also vary
      from university to university, depending upon the speciality of the
      subjects being taught thereby. The (i) names of the University
      Acts; (ii) existing provision for appointment of Vice-Chancellors;
      (iii) amended provision for appointment of Vice-Chancellor under
      the ordinance of 2023; and (iv) subjects/disciplines which are being
      taught in a University, have been consequently provided to us in
      a tabulated form. On a cursory look, we find that every statute,
      broadly speaking, provides that the Vice-Chancellor shall be
      appointed by the Chancellor on the recommendations of a Search-
      cum-Selection Committee, who shall hold the office upto the age
      of 65 years and should be a person possessing the highest level
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     of competence, integrity, morals and institutional commitment. The
     Vice-Chancellor must also be a distinguished academician with 10
     years of experience as a Professor in a University or a well-reputed
     research/academician organization.
9.   On an illustrative basis, we deem it appropriate in this regard to
     reproduce Section 8 of the Calcutta University Act, 1979, which
     reads as follows:
           “8. (1) The Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed by
           the Chancellor on the unanimous recommendation
           of the Senate. If the Senate fails to make any such
           recommendation, the Vice-Chancellor shall be appointed
           by the Chancellor in consultation with the Minister from
           a panel of three persons to be elected by the Senate in
           accordance with the system of proportional representation
           by means of the single transferable vote.
           (2) (a) The Vice-Chancellor shall hold office for a period of
           four years or till he attains the age of 65 years, whichever
           is earlier, and shall, subject to the provisions of this section,
           be eligible for re-appointment for a period not exceeding
           four years.
           (b) The Chancellor may, notwithstanding the expiration of
           the term of the office of the Vice-Chancellor or his attaining
           the age of 65 years, allow him to continue in office till
           a successor assumes office, provided that he shall not
           continue as such for any period exceeding one year.
           (3) The Vice-Chancellor shall be a whole-time officer
           of the University and shall be paid from the University
           Fund a salary of three thousand and five hundred rupees
           per month and such allowances as the Chancellor may
           decide.
           (4) The Vice-Chancellor may resign his office by writing
           under his hand addressed to the Chancellor.
           (5) If—
           (a) the Vice-Chancellor is, by reason of leave, illness or
           other cause, temporarily unable to exercise the powers
           and perform the duties of his office, or
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          (b) a vacancy occurs in the office of the Vice-Chancellor
          by reason of death, resignation or expiry of the term of
          his office, removal or otherwise,
          then, during the period of such temporary inability or
          pending the appointment of a Vice-Chancellor, as the case
          may be, the Pro-Vice- Chancellor for Academic Affairs
          shall exercise the powers and perform the duties of the
          Vice-Chancellor.
          (6) The vacancy in the office of the Vice-Chancellor
          occurring by reason of death, resignation or expiry of the
          term of his office, removal or otherwise shall be filled up by
          appointment of a Vice-Chancellor in accordance with the
          provisions of sub-section (1) within a period of six months
          from the date of occurrence of the vacancy.”
10. We 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 composition of
    the Search-cum-Selection 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 Search-cum-Selection Committee for all the subject
    Universities. Hence, we resolve to constitute Search-cum-Selection
    Committee(s) of the same composition so as to avoid any confusion,
    irrespective of the fact that the relevant provision of the Statute
    of the concerned University may contain slight variations. Our
    endeavour is to infuse transparency, independence, fairness, and
    impartiality so as to ensure that the persons possessing the highest
    level of competence and integrity and are capable of leading the
    University by example are shortlisted. In this regard, we have
    made an effort to shortlist experts who are eminent scientists,
    educationists, jurists, subject experts, and administrators in their
    own right. We have further attempted to set out that nominees
    of the Chancellor, Chief Minister, UGC, State Government, the
    Higher Education Department of West Bengal the intervenors etc.
    are adequately represented.
11. While shortlisting the experts for composition of the Search-cm-
    Selection Committee, we have been further guided by the nature
    of subjects and disciplines in which education is being imparted in
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     The State of West Bengal v. Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh and Ors.


     different Universities. We find that, broadly, all the Universities can
     be categorized as follows:
     i)     Universities with faculties predominantly in arts and science:
            a)   West Bengal State University
            b)   Sidho Kanhi Birsha University
            c)   Burdwan University
            d)   Jadavpur University
            e)   Gour Banga University
            f)   Bankura University
            g)   Presidency University
            h)   Cooch Behar Panchanan Barma University
            i)   Sadhu Ram Chand Murmu University of Jhargram
            j)   Alipurduar University
            k)   Raiganj University
            l)   Diamond Harbour Women’s University
            m)   Murshidabad University
            n)   Mahatma Gandhi University
            o)   Dakshin Dinajpur University
     ii)    Universities with faculties predominantly in commerce and
            science:
            a)   North Bengal University
            b)   Kalyani University
     iii)   Universities with faculties predominantly in arts:
            a)   Kanyashree University
            b)   Rabindra Bharati University
            c)   Harichand Guruchand University
            d)   Hindi University
            e)   Biswa Bangla Biswabidyalaya
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            f)   Darjeeling Hills University
      iv)   Universities with faculties predominantly in science:
            a)   Maulana Abdul Kalam Azad University of Technology
            b)   Aliah University
            c)   West Bengal University of Health Sciences
            d)   West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences
            e)   Kazi Nazrul University
            f)   Rani Rashmoni Green University
      v)    Other miscellaneous and multi-disciplinary universities:
            a)   Calcutta University
            b)   Sanskrit College and University
            c)   Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education University
            d)   Vidyasagar University
            e)   Netaji Subhas Open University
            f)   Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya
            g)   Bidhan Chandra Krishi Vishwavidyalaya
12. We hereby appoint Hon’ble Mr. Justice Uday Umesh Lalit, Former
    Chief Justice of India as Chairperson of the Search-cum-Selection
    Committees for all the Universities.
13. Following is the list of eminent educationists, scientists, jurists, subject
    experts and administrators etc. who have been short-listed for the
    purpose of empanelment on Search-cum-Selection Committee(s):
      (i)   Arts & Humanities
            a)   Prof. Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhury, Ex. V.C., Rabindra
                 Bharti University. Address: 56A, BT Road, Kolkata - 700500.
            b)   Prof. Siuli Sarkar, Principal, Lady Brabourne College.
            c)   Prof. Sibaji Pratim Basu, Professor, Vidyasagar University.
                 Address: Department of Political Science with Rural
                 Administration, Vidyasagar University, Midanpore –
                 721102.
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            d)   Professor Ujjwal K Singh, Department of Political Science,
                 University of Delhi. Email: ujjwalksingh@gmail.com; Phone
                 no: 8800788862.
     (ii)   History
            a)   Prof. Tapati Guha Thakurta, Prof. in Social Sciences,
                 Centre for Studies in Social Sciences. Address: C D 157,
                 Salt Lake, Sector I, Kolkata – 700064.
            b)   Prof. Amit De, Ashutosh Chair Professor of History, Calcutta
                 University.
            c)   Prof. Sajal Nag, Retd. Professor, Assam University.
            d)   Prof. Rajat Kanta Roy, Former VC, Visva Bharati.
            e)   Prof. Raghuvendra Tanwar, Chairman, Indian Council for
                 Historical Research. Email: chairman@ichr.ac.in; Phone
                 no: 9896219909.
     (iii) Sociology & Anthropology
            a)   Prof. Ramanuj Ganguly, Professor, WBSU. Address: Flat:
                 A-106, Mall Enclave, 13, KB Sarani, Kolkata – 700080.
            b)   Prof. Tanka Bahadur Subba, Ex VC, Sikkim Central
                 University.
            c)   Prof. Ravinder Kaur, Professor of Sociology, IIT Delhi,
                 email: ravinder.iitd@gmail.com.
     (iv) Economics
            a)   Prof. Abhirup Sarkar, Professor, Indian Statistical Institute,
                 Calcutta. Address: 10 Mandeville Gardens, Flat 802,
                 Kolkata – 700019.
            b)   Prof. Saibal Kar, RBI Chair Professor of Economics, Centre
                 for Studies in Social Sciences. Address: R1, BP Township,
                 Kolkata – 700094.
            c)   Prof. (Dr.) Ram Singh, Director, Delhi School of Economics,
                 University of Delhi, Delhi. Email: ramsingh@econdse.org;
                 Phone number: 9971863030.
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      (v)   Law
            a)      Prof. Rathin Bandyopadhyay, Professor of Law, Department
                    of Law, NBU. Address: Department of Law, University of
                    North Bengal, Siliguri – 734013.
            b)      Justice G. Raghuram, former Judge, Andhra Pradesh High
                    Court and former Director, National Judicial Academy.
      (vi) English
            a)      Prof. Debnarayan Bandyopadhyay, Ex VC Bankura
                    University. Address: 20 Chandranath Chatterjee Street,
                    Kolkata 700025.
            b)      Prof. Anindyo Roy, Associate Professor Emeritus,
                    Department of English, Colby College, Waterville. Email:
                    aroy@colby.edu.
            c)      Prof. (Dr.) Meena T. Pillai – Dean, Faculty of Arts and
                    Professor, Institute of English and Director, Centre for
                    Cultural Studies of University of Kerala.
      (vii) Hindi
            a)      Prof. T.V. Kattimani, VC, Central Tribal University, Andhra
                    Pradesh.
            b)      Dr. Chander Trikha, Director, Urdu Cell, Sahitya Academy,
                    Haryana, R/o of House No.345, Sector 22A, Chandigarh
                    (Mob. No.09417004423).
      (viii) Bengali
            a)      Prof. Mir Rejaul Karim, Professor, Aliah University. Address:
                    Department of Bengali, Aliah University, Park Circus
                    Campus, 17 Gorachand Road, Kolkata-700014
            b)      Prof. Tapadhir Bhattacharya, former VC, Assam University.
      (ix) Chemistry
            a)      Prof. Abhijit Chakrabarti, Retired Professor, Saha Institute
                    of Nuclear Physics. Email: abhijit1960@gmail.com.
            b)      Prof. Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay, VC, Sister Nibedita
                    University.
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             c)   Prof. Uday Maitra, FNA Deprtment of Organic Chemistry,
                  Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore. Email: maitra@
                  iisc.ac.in.
             d)   Prof. Ramesh Chandra, VC, Maharaja Surajmal Brij
                  University, Bharatpur. Email: acbrdu@hotmail.com.
             e)   Prof. Siva Umapathy, Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute
                  of Sciences, Bangalore. Email: umapathy@iisc.ac.in
     (x)     Physics
             a)   Swami Atmapriayanand, VC, Ramakrishna Mission
                  Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute.
             b)   Prof. Amitava Mukhapadhyay, Professor, NBU.
             c)   Prof. Amitabha Roy Chaudhuri, Deptt of Physics, CU.
             d)   Prof. A.N. Basu, former VC, JU and distinguished Professor
                  of Physics.
     (xi)    Biology
             a)     Prof. Subhra Chakraborty, Director, Genomics Research
                    Centre, Delhi.
             b)     Prof. B.A. Chopade, VC – AKS University, Satna, Former
                    VC, Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University,
                    Aurangabad.
             c)     Prof. (Dr.) Navin Sheth – former VC, Gujarat Technological
                    University.
             d)     Prof. Emeritus. Prof. V. S. Chauhan, Ph.D., D.Phil. (Oxon),
                    FNA, FNASc, TWAS, Former UGC Chairman. Email:
                    viranderschauhan@gmail.com. Phone No.: 9811292058.
     (xii)   Botany and Zoology
             a)     Prof. Subhas Chandra Roy, Professor, NBU
             b)     Prof. Dipak Kumar Kar, ex VC, SKB University. Address: 409
                    Lake Gardens, Kolkata 700045; Phone No.: 7044577044
     (xiii) Mathematics
             a)     Prof. Kallol Paul, Professor, Jadavpur University. Address:
                    188 Raja SC Mallik Road, Kolkata 700032.
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             b)   Prof. Suparna De Sarkar, Senior Professor, NBU.
             c)   Prof. Tarun Das, Department of Mathematics, University of
                  Delhi. Email: tarukd@gmail.com; Phone No.: 9911854923.
      (xiv) Computer Science
             a)   Prof. Amlan Chakraborty, Calcutta University.
             b)   Prof. Anupam Basu, Director NIT, Durgapur.
             c)   Shri Raj Shekhar Joshi, Group Head (Digital Technology
                  & Transformation), Joint President, Aditya Birla Group.
      (xv)   Electrical Engineering
             a)   Prof. Bhaskar Gupta, Professor, Jadavpur University.
                  Address: 19C/1, Kalibari Lane, Kolkata - 700032.
             b)   Prof. Ajoy Roy, IIT Kharagpur.
             c)   Dr. Prith Banerjee, Chief Technology Officer of Ansys.
      (xvi) Chemical and Biochemcal Engineering
             a)   Prof. Chiranjib Bhattacharya, ex Pro-VC, JU
             b)   Prof. S.E. Hasnain, Padma Shree Awardee, National
                  Science Chair, SERB, Department of Biochemical
                  Engineering and Biotechnology, IIT Delhi.
             c)   Prof. RC Kuhad, Former Vice-Chancellor, Central
                  University of Haryana, and retired Professor of Bio-
                  Chemistry. Email: kuhad85@gmail.com; Phone no.:
                  9817813027.
      (xvii) Civil and Mechanical Engineering
             a)   Prof. Deepankar Choudhury, T. Kant Chair Professor and
                  Head of Civil Engineering department at IIT Bombay.
             b)   Prof. Sunil Kumar, VC- Rajiv Gandhi Proudyogiki
                  Vishwavidyalay, Bhopal.
      (xviii) Minerals and Agricultural Engineering
             a)   Prof. Indranil Manna, JC Bose Fellow, FTWAS, FNA,
                  FNAE, FNASc, FASc, MAPAM, FIE(I), FEMSI, FAScT,
                  Professor, IIT Kharagpur, Former Director, CSIR- Central
[2024] 7 S.C.R.                                                             83

     The State of West Bengal v. Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh and Ors.


                    Glass & Ceramic Institute, VC Birla Institute of Technology,
                    Mesra.
            b)      Prof. (Dr.) Virendra Kumar Tiwari, Director, IIT Kharagpur.
     (xix) International Relations
            a)      Prof. Om Prakash Mishra, ex PVC, IGNOU & ex VC, NBU
     (xx)   Statistics & Information Science
            a)      Prof. Sabuj Kumar Chodhury, Professor, Department
                    of Library & Information Science. Address: Third Floor,
                    Asutosh Building, 87/1, College Street, Kolkata – 700073.
            b)      Prof. Bimal Kumar Roy, Head, RC Bose Centre for
                    Cryptology and Security, ISI Kolkata.
     (xxi) Physiology
            a)      Prof. Gautam Pal, Pro VC, Kalyani University
     (xxii) Geology
            a)      Prof. S.K Tandon, former Pro Vice-Chancellor and retired
                    Professor University of Delhi. Email: sktand@iiser.ac.in;
                    Phone no: 9810437365.
     (xxiii) Business and Management
            a)      Prof. Sujit Kumar Basu, former VC, Visva Bharati
                    University.
            b)      Professor Errol D’Souza (former Director IIMA), Indian
                    Institute of Management, Ahmedabad. Email: errol@
                    iimahd.ernet.in Phone No.: 9558820604
     (xxiv) Environment and Climate
            a)      Prof. Jayanta Bandopadhya, Retd. Professor, IIM Kolkata
                    Environmental Studies.
            b)      Mr. Anirban Ghosh, Eminent Technocrat & Head, Centre
                    for Sustainability, Mahindra University.
     (xxv) Human Resource
            a)      Mr. Saptarshi Roy, Technocrat & Director (HR) NTPC
                    Ltd., New Delhi.
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      (xxvi) Miscellaneous
            b)   Dr. S.K. Pattanayak, IAS (Retd.), Former Secretary,
                 Deparment of Agriculture, GOI, New Delhi.
            c)   Mr. Parimal Rai, IAS (Retd.), Former Chief Secretary, Goa.
                 Address: 60, Poorvi Marg, Third Floor, Vasant Vihar, New
                 Delhi. Phone no: 09779866666/09810533311.
14. The learned Chairperson is hereby authorized to constitute separate or
    joint Search-cum-Selection Committees for one or more Universities,
    keeping in view the nature of subjects/disciplines in which education
    is being imparted in such pooled Universities. The Chairperson is
    requested to nominate 4 persons out of the empaneled experts,
    whom he finds capable of short-listing suitable names for appointment
    as Vice-Chancellors. Learned Chairperson shall preside over every
    Search-cum-Selection Committee and thus, composition of each
    such Committee shall be five. The Search-cum-Selection Committee
    shall prepare a panel of at least 03 names (alphabetically and not
    in order of merit) for each University.
15. The learned Chairperson is requested to constitute the Search- cum-
    Selection Committees for the group or the individual Universities as
    early as possible and preferably within two weeks. The Department of
    Higher Education, Government of West Bengal is hereby nominated as
    the nodal department of the State Government to issue advertisements
    giving vide publicity to invite applications for the posts of Vice-
    Chancellors. Such advertisements shall contain the details of the
    requisite qualification and other eligibility conditions, with a specific
    reference to this Court’s order so as to infuse confidence, leaving no
    uncertainty in the minds of the meritorious aspirants in submitting their
    claims. The advertisements shall give four weeks’ time to submit the
    applications. Such applications shall be scrutinized by the concerned
    department of the State Government within one week and shall
    thereafter the entire set of all applications be placed before the learned
    Chairperson of the Search-cum-Selection Committee, who in turn,
    will get the dossier of each candidate prepared for consideration of
    the Search-cum-Selection Committee. The Search Committee may
    endeavour to complete their task within three months from today.
16. The learned Chairperson shall be paid an honorarium of Rs. 3 lakhs
    for every effective day of proceedings of the Search Committee, until
[2024] 7 S.C.R.                                                        85

     The State of West Bengal v. Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh and Ors.


     the entire process is completed. The State Government, in addition
     to honorarium, provide the Chairperson with a suitable office and full
     secretarial assistance, along with transit accommodation at Kolkata.
     The learned Chairperson shall also be provided with an official
     vehicle and necessary paraphernalia forthwith, commensurate to
     the constitutional position held by him in the past.
17. The members of the Search-cum-Selection Committee shall be
    entitled to such allowance, perks, and facilities as may have been
    prescribed under the Statutes or by the State Government. If nothing
    has been prescribed, in that case, the petitioner-State shall apprise
    this Court of the status on the next date of hearing to enable us to
    pass appropriate order in this regard. Meanwhile, State Government
    is directed to reimburse their air fare (economy class) lodging and
    boarding expenses within one week of submission of such claims.
18. The recommendations made by the Search-cum-Selection Committee,
    duly endorsed by the learned Chairperson, shall be put up before
    the Chief Minister (and not the Minister-in-charge of a Department)
    for necessary consideration. In case the Chief Minister, State of
    West Bengal has reasons to believe that any short-listed 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 Search-cum-Selection 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.
19. The learned Chancellor on the receipt of record from the Chief Minister
    of the State, shall appoint the Vice-Chancellors out of the empaneled
    names, in the same order of preference as recommended by the
    Chief Minister of the State. In case the learned Chancellor has any
    reservation against the empaneled names and/or the remarks made
    by the Chief Minister of the State against any short-listed candidate,
    the learned Chancellor shall be entitled to put up his own opinion on
    file, duly supported with reasons and relevant material.
20. The 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
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      the appointment within one week from the date of receipt of approval
      from the learned Chancellor of the University.
21. In the case(s) 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.
22. The State of West Bengal shall file the Status Report in respect to
    compliance of the directions issued here-in-above before the next
    date of hearing. We make it clear that since the constitution and
    composition of Search-cum-Selection Committee is at the instance
    and with the consent of the parties, we will not entertain any objection
    from any side for non-compliance.

      Result of the case: Directions issued.



      †
          Headnotes prepared by: Nidhi Jain