KOLKATA: The West Bengal Governor House-State Secretariat dispute is likely to go to court now that the state education department is seeking legal advice on how to respond to the recent show-cause notice that the Governor's office issued to the vice-chancellors of six state universities.
Bratya Basu, the state's minister of education, claims that while the administration is eager to communicate with the governor, the latter is eager to make choices on his own. "With regard to the vice chancellors' show-cause notices, we will need to confirm his authority to issue such notices. To first determine if such notices are legal or illegal, we are engaging legal experts, the official stated.
Vice-chancellors of six state universities, including Kazi Nazrul University, Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University, Bidhan Chandra Agricultural University, West Bengal State University, Kalyani University, and The University of Burdwan, received a notice from the Governor House on May 24 for 'ignoring' the governor's order to submit weekly reports on university affairs to the Raj Bhavan.
The Governor's House had earlier on April 4 mandated the vice chancellors of all state universities to submit a weekly report to the Raj Bhavan and to seek the Raj Bhavan's approval in advance of all financial-related decisions.
The office of the special secretary to the Governor, however, sent a reminder to the V-Cs on May 22 after observing the state institutions' unwillingness to submit the weekly report.
The Vice Chancellors of the six state institutions have now been given a show-cause notice by the Governor's House after receiving no response.
The Governor is the chancellor of the state universities by virtue of his position. The governor's request for weekly reports was met with opposition from the state government right away. The relationship between Raj Bhavan and the State Secretariat appears to have grown murkier as a result of the state government's consideration of legal remedies against show-cause notices.
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