New Delhi: The state of Kerala has approached the Supreme Court of India challenging the Governor’s appointment of interim Vice-Chancellors to the Technical University and Digital University, rejecting the state government’s recommendations.

Kerala has petitioned the apex court seeking the cancellation of these appointments, arguing that the Governor’s action was unilateral and in violation of a previous Supreme Court judgment.

According to Kerala’s submission, the appointments of interim Vice-Chancellors should be made under Section 13(7) of the Technical University Act and Section 11(10) of the Digital University Act. These provisions, the petition states, had earlier been upheld by the Kerala High Court as well. Under these Sections, the Governor—acting as Chancellor—is required to appoint Vice-Chancellors from a panel recommended by the state government.

However, the Governor reappointed the previous interim Vice-Chancellors—Ciza Thomas and K Shivaprasad—bypassing the panel submitted by the state government. This, according to the petition filed by the state’s standing counsel C K Sasi, is in violation of statutory norms and the directives of the Supreme Court.

The matter will be heard by a Supreme Court bench comprising Justices J B Pardiwala and R Mahadevan on Wednesday.