A Bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Manmohan allowed the Governor’s request for more time after Attorney General R Venkataramani informed it that Bose had cleared the appointment of V-Cs for 11 universities, and the rest would be completed soon.

“Learned Attorney General of India has handed over a list of 11 universities, where appointments of Vice-Chancellors have been duly approved by the learned Chancellor. He submits that given three weeks more time, the entire list will stand scrutinised and the approved names shall be immediately forwarded to the state government for their formal appointment,” the court said, adding the “Chancellor (Bose) may notify their appointments without any delay.”

The AG said that the Governor in his capacity as Chancellor “is in the process of examining them very closely and in fact made a request that little more time may be given…in some cases, he wanted to have some more material…taking a little time”, the AG told the bench adding that he hoped that the issues will be sorted.

The court was hearing the state government’s appeal challenging Calcutta High Court’s June 2023 decision upholding the appointment of interim vice-chancellors in 13 universities. The Supreme Court subsequently appointed a search-cum selection Committee headed by former Chief Justice of India UU Lalit to suggest three names for each University.

Senior Advocate A M Singhvi, appearing for the State, said he had no objection in the Governor being allowed a few more weeks but urged the court to fix a time limit.