The Tamil Nadu government on Wednesday, December 20, 2023, informed the Madras High Court that Governor R.N. Ravi had constituted a separate four-member search panel on September 6, 2023 to identify a suitable candidate to the post of Madras University Vice Chancellor, before the government issued an order on September 13, 2023 constituting a three-member search panel.
Appearing before Chief Justice Sanjay V. Gangapurwala and Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy who were seized of a public interest litigation petition challenging the September 13 government order, Advocate General R. Shunmugasundaram said the State government had challenged the Governor’s action before the Supreme Court and that the case was still pending there.
The A-G also stated that the Governor had included a University Grants Commission (UGC) nominee in the panel constituted by him. He further told the court that since cases were pending both before the Supreme Court as well as the High Court, no further steps with respect to the appointment of the Vice Chancellor were being undertaken pursuant to the G.O. under challenge.
The judges recorded the submissions made by the A-G and adjourned further hearing on the PIL petition, filed by advocate B. Jagannath, to February 5, 2024. The petitioner had urged the court to quash the September 13 GO and order reconstitution of the search panel after inclusion of a UGC nominee in accordance with dictum laid down by the Supreme Court in recent judgements.
