Overview
- The Supreme Court directed the Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia-led committee to recommend a single name for each vice-chancellor post in a sealed cover by next Wednesday, listing the case for December 18.
- A bench of Justices JB Pardiwala and KV Viswanathan issued the order after noting that the Chief Minister and the Chancellor had not reached consensus and were unlikely to do so.
- Kerala ministers P. Rajeev and R. Bindu met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar on December 10, but the conciliatory discussion produced no breakthrough.
- The Chief Minister prioritized C. Sathish Kumar for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Saji Gopinath for Digital University Kerala, while the Governor backed Ciza Thomas and Priya Chandran, with the state objecting specifically to Thomas.
- The bench declined to view a confidential letter the Chancellor sent the Chief Minister, observed that the Dhulia panel had included Thomas in its shortlist, and heard the state’s contention that only the Chief Minister sets the order of merit under the court’s earlier directions.