Tue Jan 21 03:00:00 UTC 2025: **Six Tamil Nadu Universities Paralyzed by Vice-Chancellor Appointment Standoff**
Chennai, January 21, 2025 – Six Tamil Nadu state universities are currently without Vice Chancellors (VCs), creating a crisis in university administration. The impasse stems from a dispute between the state government and the Governor (ex-officio Chancellor) over the composition of the VC selection committees.
The Governor insists on including a nominee from the University Grants Commission (UGC) as per UGC Regulations 2018, while the state government cites state university acts, which mandate nominees from the Chancellor, syndicate, and senate, and opposes what it views as federal overreach by the UGC. Conflicting Supreme Court rulings further complicate the matter, with some supporting the UGC’s mandatory status and others deeming its regulations merely advisory for state universities.
Similar standoffs exist in Kerala and Punjab, resulting in widespread administrative dysfunction, including delays in staff appointments and degree awards. The core issue is whether UGC regulations, a subordinate legislation, can override state university acts, plenary laws passed by state legislatures.
K. Ashok Vardhan Shetty, a retired IAS officer and former Vice Chancellor, argues that the UGC’s power to regulate VC appointments is not explicitly granted by the UGC Act, 1956, and that Supreme Court precedent consistently upholds the primacy of plenary state laws over subordinate legislation. He contends that the UGC’s shifting stance on VC appointments reflects an attempt at administrative control rather than academic improvement. Recent conflicting Supreme Court judgments have further fueled the confusion.
Shetty advocates for a definitive ruling by a Constitutional Bench of the Supreme Court to clarify the matter, stressing the need to uphold the balance of legislative power between the Centre and States and to ensure the smooth functioning of state universities.
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