Bengal government can't appoint or reappoint vice chancellors, rules High Court

The Calcutta High Court ruled on Tuesday that the West Bengal government has no right to appoint or reappoint vice chancellors (VCs) in state-run universities.

A division bench comprising chief justice Prakash Srivastava and Rajarshi Bharadwaj was hearing a public interest litigation filed last year which alleged that the state government had appointed or reappointed VCs of 24 state universities without following the prescribed norms of the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Former West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar had raised objections to the appointments of VCs to the state universities, including the University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University and Presidency University.


The leader of opposition in the state assembly, Suvendu Adhikari, tweeted after the court order, "I had asked the VCs, illegally appointed by WB govt, to step down voluntarily before being unceremoniously removed, but they didn't bother. Congratulations to the litigant who filed the PIL & hope that the VCs dismissed by the Hon'ble Calcutta High Court won't seek reappointment."