Kerala names Vice Chancellors to two varsities after Supreme Court steps in

Thiruvananthapuram, Dec 16 (PTI) Appointments of vice chancellors to two state-run technical universities in Kerala were announced on Tuesday, days after the Supreme Court intervened to address a prolonged deadlock between Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan.

According to a Lok Bhavan statement, a meeting was held on December 14 between Vijayan and Arlekar, who is also the chancellor of the universities, at the Lok Bhavan here.

It was decided that Dr Ciza Thomas would be appointed Vice Chancellor of the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University, while Dr Saji Gopinathan would take charge as VC of the Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology.

The office of the chancellor issued the notification formalising the appointments on Tuesday.

The decision will be reported to the Supreme Court on December 18, the statement said.

The appointments come against the backdrop of a long-running dispute between the Left government and the governor over the selection of vice chancellors to the two universities.

Last week, the Supreme Court noted that repeated efforts to break the impasse had failed.

Observing the continuing deadlock, the top court had asked a committee headed by retired Supreme Court judge Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia to recommend one name each for the two posts.

A bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan directed the committee to submit its recommendations in a sealed cover.

During the hearing, the court noted that despite exchanges of letters and meetings between the government and the chancellor, no consensus had been reached.

The bench said it was "unfortunate" that the stalemate continued and decided to step in to ensure appointments were made.

The dispute had its roots in disagreements over the role of the chief minister in the selection process and objections raised by the governor to some of the names recommended by the state government.

The issue had led to litigation in the Kerala High Court and later the Supreme Court, with both sides accusing each other of delaying the appointments.

The Supreme Court had earlier warned that it would intervene if the chief minister and the governor failed to resolve the matter amicably. PTI TGB TGB ROH