While holding it, the SC dismissed the petitions filed by the State of West Bengal and Banerjee assailing the order of the Calcutta High Court, whereby the decision of the State to re-appoint Banerjee as Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Calcutta University was set aside.
SC affirms revoking of Calcutta University VC's reappointment, dismisses petitions filed by state of WB
Supreme Court has observed that the state of West Bengal has confiscated the powers of the West Bengal Chancellor while reappointing Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee as the Vice-Chancellor of Calcutta University.
While holding it, the SC dismissed the petitions filed by the State of West Bengal and Banerjee assailing the order of the Calcutta High Court, whereby the decision of the State to re-appoint Banerjee as Vice-Chancellor (VC) of Calcutta University was set aside.
The SC however observed that the judgment passed by the High Court was correct both in facts and in law. The Court noted that State misused the removal of difficulty clause under the Calcutta University Act to usurp the power of the Chancellor to make the appointment.
"The Government cannot misuse the removal of difficulty clause to remove all obstacles in its path which arise due to statutory restrictions. Allowing such action would be antithetical to the rule of law misusing the limited power granted", Justice Chandrachud read out the excerpts from the judgment.
A bench comprising Justices DY Chandrachud and Hima Kohli had reserved judgment on September 16 on the petitions filed by the State Government and the ousted Vice-Chancellor against the High Court verdict. Senior Advocate Dr Abhishek Manu Singhvi appeared for the State, Senior Advocate Jaideep Gupta appeared for Sonali Chakravarti and Senior Advocate Ranjit Kumar appeared for the person who challenged the re-appointment.
By way of a notification dated August 27, 2021, the Vice-Chancellor had been re-appointed to the post with effect from August 28, 2021 for a period of 4 years or till she attains 70 years, whichever is earlier. A practicing advocate of the Calcutta High Court, Anindya Sundar Das had filed a public interest litigation before the Calcutta High Court contending that the Vice-Chancellor had been reappointed to the post in August 2021 by the Principal Secretary of the State's Higher Education Department in violation of the provisions of the Calcutta University Act, 1979.
The High Court had allowed the petition holding that the State Government lacked authority to make the re-appointment without the approval of the Governor.
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