The issue of appointing VCs to state-run universities is intensifying

The issue of appointing vice-chancellors at state universities is heating up again. While Higher Education Minister P. Viswanathan said on Tuesday that the government has sent a proposal to the governor to expand VC search committees, the Madras High Court ordered a notice to the UGC and the state government seeking urgent intervention over the failure to appoint VCs.

The petition made two pleas: either a direction to the University Grants Commission (UGC) to step in and devise a scheme for the appointment of V-Cs under Section 12 of the UGC Act, 1956, or to appoint a high-powered panel headed by a former Chief Justice or a Supreme Court judge to oversee the process of appointing VCs.

A bench of Chief Justice SA Dharmadhikari and Justice Arul Murugan posted the case for further hearing on July 29 along with other cases related to the appointment of the VC.

“The objection is limited to an interim solution for the appointment of the VC only pending the court’s decision on the validity of the laws,” said senior advocate NL Rajah, counsel for the petitioner, P. Bhaskar.

“Fifteen universities are headless, five more will soon be. It has certainly affected the students, the level of education and the financial flow of these universities,” Mr Rajah said.

The situation in Tamil Nadu was quite similar to that in West Bengal, where a dispute between the governor and the state government over the appointment of the VC led the Supreme Court to appoint a Search-cum-Selection Committee in 2024, headed by former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit, to oversee the process as petitioned.

Meanwhile, the higher education minister’s announcement on the expansion of search committees raised hopes of a truce between Lok Bhavan and Fort St. George. In October 2024, the then governor RN Ravi directed the state government to notify a four-member search committee, including a nominee of the UGC chairman, for the appointment of the VC of the Tamil Nadu University of Physical Education and Sports. The state government objected to this stance and set in motion a chain of events and court cases leading to the current impasse.

In the last few weeks, Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay presided over at least two review meetings of the higher education department where issues related to the deadlock over the appointment of VCs were discussed on priority. It is reliably established that the proposal to expand the search committees has been sent to the legal department for clarification. The ball is now in the governor’s court.

Published – 9 Jul 2026 0:55 AM IST