Overview
- The Chancellor’s office named Dr Ciza Thomas as vice chancellor of APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and Dr Saji Gopinathan as vice chancellor of Kerala University of Digital Sciences, issuing formal notifications on December 16.
- The appointments will be reported to the Supreme Court on December 18, in line with directions given as the court supervised the process to resolve the impasse.
- On December 11, the Supreme Court appointed a committee headed by retired Justice Sudhanshu Dhulia to recommend names for both universities and ordered sealed-cover submissions after consensus efforts failed.
- Kerala Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar has publicly criticized the court’s intervention as judicial overreach, invoking the 2023 Kannur University judgment and asserting that search committees and selections are the Chancellor’s domain.
- A December 14 meeting between the Governor and Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan preceded the decision, capping months of litigation and High Court rulings that struck down earlier interim appointments and constrained temporary selections.