Kerala Governor cannot sit on report on V-C postings: SC

The Supreme Court took serious note of a Kerala government submission on Friday (November 28, 2025) that Governor Rajendra Arlekar is “not looking” into a retired Supreme Court judge’s report on long-pending appointment of regular Vice-Chancellors to two State-run universities, forwarded to him by the Chief Minister.

The Kerala Governor is the Chancellor of the two universities.

A Bench headed by Justice J.B. Pardiwala said the report from a former judge of the court cannot be treated by the Governor as an “ordinary piece of paper” in his capacity as Chancellor.

Justice Pardiwala is the author of the August 8 judgment in the Tamil Nadu Governor case. That verdict fixed timelines for Governors to deal with pending State Bills waiting for assent. The judgment had led to a Presidential Reference in which the Supreme Court clarified that Governors cannot be tied to time frames. The turn of events has led to public debates about gubernatorial offices weaponising delay and the consequent impact on federalism.

Prolonged impasse

The present case dealt with the prolonged impasse between the State and the Governor over the appointment of Vice-Chancellors to the APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the Digital Sciences University.

The Supreme Court intervened on August 18 to appoint Justice (retired) Sudhanshu Dhulia to head a search-cum-selection committee to recommend names for appointment as Vice-Chancellors of the two varsities. The court had ordered the shortlisted names, endorsed by Justice Dhulia, to be placed before the Chief Minister for his consideration. The August 18 order had entitled the Chief Minister to recommend to the Governor the shortlisted names in order of preference for appointment as Vice-Chancellors.

In September, the Governor’s office had returned to the top court, seeking a modification of the August 18 order regarding the role of the Chief Minister in the appointment process. The Governor had argued that neither the University Grants Commission nor the State laws governing the two universities envisaged a role for the Chief Minister in the appointment process. The application had contended that the Chief Minister’s involvement would be tantamount to a person judging his own cause.

In an urgent oral mention before Justice Pardiwala’s Bench on Friday, the Kerala government, represented by senior advocate Jaideep Gupta and advocate C.K. Sasi, said Justice Dhulia had handed over the report to the Chief Minister, who had, in turn, forwarded it to the Governor.

“Has the Chancellor looked into the report of Justice Dhulia?” Justice Pardiwala asked the counsel appearing for the Chancellor.

The lawyer responded that though the report was received, the entire record was not handed over.

“This is not just an ordinary piece of paper. A former judge of the Supreme Court has looked into it. So you are to look into the report and take an appropriate call,” Justice Pardiwala orally addressed the Governor’s side.

The Bench reminded the counsel that the committee headed by Justice Dhulia was appointed by the court with the concurrence of all the parties in the case.

“It is expected of the Chancellor to now look into the report filed by the committee headed by Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia and proceed further in the matter accordingly… We fail to understand why the non-receipt of the record is coming in the way of looking into the report filed by the committee. In such circumstances, we now expect the Chancellor to take an appropriate decision in accordance with the report of the Committee,” the court observed in the order.

The Bench scheduled the case for hearing next week.