Citing precedents set by various court rulings, including those by the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court, Governor Bose argued for the alignment of university Acts with regulations outlined by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
Tensions over the autonomy of state universities in West Bengal have intensified following a public exchange of criticisms between Education Minister Bratya Basu and Governor CV Ananda Bose. In response to Basu's accusations of "illogical and inconsistent steps" taken by the Governor, Bose released a statement on Wednesday night, April 3, reaffirming his commitment to protecting the independence of these academic institutions.
Citing precedents set by various court rulings, including those by the Supreme Court and the Calcutta High Court, Governor Bose argued for the alignment of university Acts with regulations outlined by the University Grants Commission (UGC). He vehemently denied allegations of violating federal principles, asserting instead that it is the state government's purported attempts to control the universities in West Bengal that pose the real threat to their autonomy.
Central to Bose's critique were rules enacted by the West Bengal Assembly in December 2019, which sought to introduce an intermediary body between the chancellor and the vice-chancellor. According to the Governor, these regulations undermine the independence of universities by injecting unnecessary bureaucratic layers into their governance structure.
"The Chancellor being the Head of the University and the appointing authority of the Vice Chancellor is within his right to correspond or communicate with the Vice Chancellor directly without routing it through another authority. Similarly, the Vice Chancellor, who is only an appointee of the Chancellor, is bound to communicate directly to the Chancellor without disclosing the contents to an authority. The secretary of the department cannot act as a liaison officer without the authority of law," Bose asserted, as quoted by Edex Live.