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Bengal governor appoints ex-Karnataka chief justice as university V-C, triggers row
Subhro Kamal Mukherjee was a judge at the Calcutta high court before being transferred to Karnataka in 2015. He came chief justice in 2016, a year before his retirement
West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose has appointed retired chief justice of Karnataka high court Subhro Kamal Mukherjee as the acting vice-chancellor (V-C) of Kolkata’s Rabindra Bharati University. The move has, however, triggered row in the state’s academic and political circles.
The post was lying vacant since the tenure of the former acting V-C ended on May 31. The appointment of a former judge is being described as unprecedented in recent history.
Mukherjee was a judge at the Calcutta high court before being transferred to Karnataka in 2015. He came chief justice in 2016, a year before his retirement.
In his July 4 order, a copy of which was reviewed by HT, the governor, who is the chancellor of all 31 state-run universities, wrote that the former judge “is authorized to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the vice-chancellor of Rabindra Bharati University” till further orders.
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“This order will take effect from the date on which the joining report is accepted by the appointing authority,” the order issued by Raj Bhavan said.
State education minister Bratya Basu did not comment on the development, however, the governor’s decision was criticised by the ruling Trinamool Congress (TMC).
“The governor is trying to run a parallel administration under instructions from Delhi. The appointment order has been issued to make the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) happy,” said Rajya Sabha member Santanu Sen.
Bengal BJP president Sukanta Majumdar said, “The governor followed rules of the University Grants Commission (UGC).” UGC rules stipulate that only people with teaching experience can be appointed as V-Cs, academicians pointed out.
Veteran academician Pabitra Sarkar, who served as V-C at Rabindra Bharati University during the erstwhile Left Front regime, said he felt confused after hearing the news.
“This is unprecedented in recent history. I am utterly confused. Does the governor at all have the power to sanction such an appointment?” Sarkar said.
Differences between the TMC government and the Raj Bhavan widened in June when Bose appointed senior professors from 13 universities as V-Cs since the tenure of the acting V-Cs had ended. However, the state government stopped the salaries of the new appointees stating they were not recruited by the education department.
Sanat Kumar Ghosh, a former professor, challenged these appointments and filed a public interest litigation (PIL) at the Calcutta high court which upheld the governor’s decision in an order issued on June 28. The court also revoked the state’s order on suspension of salary of the acting V-Cs.
West Bengal is witnessing an impasse in the higher education department since last year when the tenure of V-Cs at 29 universities ended. Their services were extended till May 31 this year and the government started the process of forming search committees to select new incumbents.
“The process of forming search committees is not complete yet,“ an education department official said on Thursday.
