In Brief
The State of West Bengal vs Dr. Sanat Kumar Ghosh involved a constitutional stalemate in appointing Vice-Chancellors to 35 state-aided universities, stemming from disagreement between the State Government and the Governor (Chancellor) over the composition of selection committees. After invalidating both the State's 2022 appointments and the Chancellor's interim appointments, the Supreme Court intervened under Article 142. It established a uniform procedure: a Search Committee chaired by former Chief Justice Uday Umesh Lalit would recommend candidates; the Chief Minister would forward preferred names to the Chancellor, who would appoint from the panel unless objecting on merit grounds; disputed cases would return to the Court for final decision. This balanced the Chancellor's constitutional authority with the State's legitimate governance role.
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