Overview
- A Supreme Court bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and P.B. Varale told the sides to reach consensus by Tuesday and said it will appoint the two vice-chancellors if they fail, listing the case next Thursday.
- The Governor, acting as Chancellor, filed an affidavit preferring Dr. Ciza Thomas for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Dr. Priya Chandran for the Digital University, while the State objected to Thomas.
- Search committees led by retired Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia submitted four-name panels for each post, with Thomas and Chandran appearing on both lists as the Court stressed selecting the "most meritorious" candidates.
- The current process stems from an August 18 Supreme Court order constituting the search-cum-selection mechanism and asking the Chief Minister to indicate an order of preference for the Chancellor.
- Earlier interim VC appointments by the Chancellor in November 2024 were quashed by the Kerala High Court and later upheld on appeal, informing the Court’s active management of the appointments now.