The Kerala governor Rajendra Arlekar on Tuesday approached the Supreme Court seeking modification of its August 18 order, which gave the state’s chief minister a role in the selection of vice-chancellors for A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University and Kerala University of Digital Sciences, Innovation, and Technology, saying neither University Grants Commission (UGC) regulations nor state laws contemplate any role for the CM in the selection process.
The application was filed by the governor in his capacity as the chancellor of the universities.
The August 18 order by a bench of Justices J B Pardiwala and K V Viswanathan had appointed former Supreme Court judge, Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia, as chairperson of the search-cum-selection committee for both universities, and also directed that the “recommendations made by the search-cum-selection committee, duly endorsed by the learned chairperson, shall be put up before the chief minister (and not the minister-in-charge of a Department) for necessary consideration”.
“In case the chief minister, state of Kerala, has reasons to believe that any shortlisted person is unsuitable for appointment as vice-chancellor, the remarks to this effect along with the supporting material and the original record of the recommendation made by the search-cum-selection committee, shall be put up before the learned chancellor within two weeks. The chief minister shall be entitled to recommend the shortlisted names in order of preference for appointment as vice-chancellors,” the order adds.
The governor pointed out that “in the University enactments which are in question before this Hon’ble Court i.e. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technological University Act as well as the Kerala Digital University Act there is no provision for having the minister for higher education or the state government to be a part of the selection process for recommendation for appointment of vice chancellors” and sought that the “role of chief minister for selection of vice chancellors as mentioned in the order dated 18.8.2025 may be modified by this Hon’ble Court”.
The plea pointed out that while dealing with the appointment of vice-chancellor in the A P J Abdul Kalam Technological University in 2023, the “primacy of UGC Regulations vis-a-vis state law was questioned” and the Supreme Court “had…very categorically held that UGC Regulations 2018 shall prevail for appointment of vice chancellors”.
It further said, “When this Hon’ble Court in the case of one of the universities had very emphatically held that the UGC Regulations shall be applied for appointment of vice chancellors introducing a new scheme for appointment of vice chancellor will be a complete disregard to the orders of the coordinate bench of this Hon’ble Court…”.
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It added that the UGC Regulations highlight the independence and autonomy of the universities by excluding any role of the state government. “The State Universities Act, in the present case, also contemplate the independence and autonomy of the two universities. Both the university Acts do not provide any role for the minister or the chief minister in the matter of selection and appointment of the vice chancellors,” it further said.
Meanwhile, in a separate application, the UGC urged the court to make it a party to the proceedings. The Commission referred to its regulations on the subject matter, and said that though the Kerala High Court judgment, against which the appeal was filed before the Supreme Court, “has extensively quoted the UGC Act and also referred to various decision of” the Supreme Court “the UGC was not made a party in the writ petition by the respondents (state of Kerala) herein”.
“When the UGC Regulation is in question, it is mandatory that UGC should be a party to the deliberations as to whether the UGC Regulations will apply or not,” it said.