Overview

• A bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan declined urgent hearing and said it will first consider the Dhulia committee’s report.
• Attorney General R. Venkataramani sought early listing, warning of confusion over who appoints vice-chancellors once recommendations are filed.
• The AG cited a modified order in the West Bengal VC case that, according to him, restores the Chancellor as appointing authority and removes adherence to the Chief Minister’s preference list.
• On August 18, the Court had set up the Dhulia-led search-cum-selection process and directed shortlisting in the order of preference recommended by the Kerala Chief Minister.
• Governor Rajendra Arlekar’s application seeks to exclude Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan from the panel, argues Kerala’s university Acts and UGC norms do not permit such a role, and records no objection to Justice Dhulia heading the committee.