Overview
- The bench of Justices J.B. Pardiwala and K.V. Viswanathan deferred Kerala Governor Rajendra Arlekar’s plea to exclude Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from the court‑constituted panel for APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Kerala Digital University.
- Attorney General R. Venkataramani urged urgent hearing, citing a Surya Kant bench modification in the West Bengal matter that removed the need to follow the Chief Minister’s preference list and may effectively restore the Chancellor’s appointing authority.
- The bench said it will examine Justice Dhulia’s report and the West Bengal modification together before settling the selection and appointment modalities.
- In the West Bengal case, Justices Surya Kant and N. Kotiswar Singh recorded that Justice U.U. Lalit’s committee gave unanimous recommendations for 12 of 15 universities and sought the Governor’s and the state government’s views, with the matter relisted for Friday.
- The Governor’s application argues Kerala’s university laws do not provide a role for the minister or state in VC selections and cites UGC conflict‑of‑interest principles, while stating no objection to Justice Dhulia chairing the panel but opposing state‑nominated members.