JUDGMENT :

DHANANJAYA Y. CHANDRACHUD, J.

1. By its judgment dated 13 September 2022, a Division Bench of the High Court at Calcutta allowed a petition under Article 226 of the Constitution seeking a writ of quo warranto against the Vice-Chancellor¹ [VC] of Calcutta University. The High Court held that the State government had no authority to appoint or re-appoint the VC under Section 8 of the Calcutta University Act 1979² [the Act] or by taking recourse to the residuary provisions of Section 60 of the Act. As a consequence, the order issued by the Special Secretary to the Government of West Bengal on 27 August 2021 re-appointing the incumbent VC of Calcutta University was set aside. The High Court has held that the VC had no authority to hold that office on the basis of the order of appointment. Both the State of West Bengal and Dr Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee, the VC whose appointment has been set aside, are in appeal.

2. By a notification dated 28 August 2017, the Chancellor of Calcutta University appointed Professor Dr. Sonali Chakravarti Banerjee as the VC of Calcutta University. The notification was in exercise of the powers conferred by Section 8(1)(a) read with Section 8(2)(a) o