Buoyed by the Supreme Court order on appointment of vice-chancellors’, members of The Educationists’ Forum in the state today issued a second legal notice to Governor C V Ananda Bose, who is also the chancellor of universities.

The legal notice for ‘civil and criminal defamation’ has been sent by seven former vice-chancellors of eminent universities in the state. The senders’ list includes those facing removal from the post of VC by Mr Bose last year. The senders have made three demands, including retraction of the statement by Mr Bose allegedly claiming that ‘some of the vice-chancellors were corrupt, some harassed girl students while some played political games in the universities.’ The academicians have not only demanded unconditional apology but also asked for monetary compensation of rupees 50 lakh for each of them. The chancellor has been given seven days’ time, failing which the academicians threatened to take further legal action.

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Notably, resolving the impasse between the governor and the state government, the SC ordered formation of a search and selection committee for appointment of VC in WB universities while saying that the chief minister is entitled to recommend the shortlisted names in order of preference to the chancellor. The Bench of Justices Surya Kant and Ujjal Bhuyan directed that the six-member committee be constituted within two weeks, noting that both the state and the office of the governor agreed on the formation of the panel.

Hailing the apex court’s order, members of the forum today claimed the order to be a win of democracy. The members alleged the chancellor’s actions to be ‘efforts to malign West Bengal.’ The forum that includes several former VC is now gearing up to file civil and criminal defamation cases against the chancellor for his alleged ‘derogatory remarks’ against some of the vice-chancellors last year. The forum alleged that the chancellor’s claims without any supporting proof had smeared the reputation in the society.

Lambasting the Governor for some of his ‘actions’ as chancellor, the chairperson of the forum, professor Debnarayan Bandopadhyay, who is one of the signatories of the legal notice, alleged, “We had protested from day one how the chancellor was violating the norms of statute. The forum had also raised concerns on how the governor was doing injustice one after another.”

Echoing him, professor Om Prakash Mishra, former VC of North Bengal University, alleged, “The chancellor has insulted the academicians in his public statements.”

As pointed out by Mr Mishra, even though Mr Bose as Governor enjoys Constitutional immunity, the same would not be applicable for the Chancellor.