Law Minister P Rajeev and Higher Education Minister R Bindu on Wednesday met Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar to discuss the selection of vice chancellors for two technical universities, following a recent Supreme Court directive to reach a consensus on the long-pending appointments.

Speaking to reporters later, Rajeev said the discussion on the appointment of vice-chancellors to APJ Abdul Kalam Technological University and the University of Digital Sciences, Innovation and Technology was held in compliance with the apex court’s order.

“The government is always trying to move forward in consensus with the Chancellor,” he said. Rajeev added that, as per the Supreme Court verdict, the Chief Minister has the authority to decide the priority of candidates in the VC selection process. Any disagreement between the government and the Chancellor could be brought before the court, he noted.

The meeting comes days after Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan accused the Governor, in his role as Chancellor, of violating the Supreme Court’s directions on the appointments. Vijayan had questioned how the Governor could disregard the court's instruction that the VCs be selected from a list submitted by the Chief Minister.

Arlekar reportedly expressed displeasure during the meeting that the ministers were sent instead of the Chief Minister himself, despite the court's directive for both sides to reach a consensus. He is also understood to have taken exception to the Chief Minister’s recent public criticism of him over a matter pending before the court.

Last week, the Supreme Court warned it would intervene to resolve the deadlock if Vijayan and Arlekar failed to reach an agreement by December 9. The court had earlier criticised the Governor for allegedly ignoring the Sudhanshu Dhulia committee report on the VC appointments.

Arlekar had approached the apex court seeking to exclude the Chief Minister from the selection process, arguing that neither of the two universities provided for CM involvement in such appointments. To break the impasse, the Supreme Court had appointed former judge Sudhanshu Dhulia to head a panel for shortlisting candidates.