Govt-governor tussle marks convocation of Jadavpur varsity
Bengal government has overturned the governor's removal of the interim vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University, causing further tension between the two parties.
The standoff between the West Bengal government and Raj Bhavan over the appointment of the interim vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University (JU) took a fresh twist on Sunday, as the state administration overturned governor CV Ananda Bose’s removal of Buddhadeb Sau from the institution a day ago.
The university’s convocation was also held as scheduled on Sunday, with Sau in attendance, even as governor Bose and University Grants Commission (UGC) chief M Jagadesh Kumar, who was the slated chief guest, skipped the event.
Bose, who is the ex-officio chancellor of all state-run universities in West Bengal, removed Sau from his position on Saturday, a day before the university’s convocation, in the latest flashpoint between the governor’s office and the West Bengal government. Bose appointed Sau in August this year.
The state higher education department criticised the governor’s “arbitrary and unilateral decision” and urged the university’s top decision-making body, known as the court, to allow Sau to exercise his powers for the benefit of the students.
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“The present authorized V-C may continue to exercise and perform the duties and the let the convocation be held as scheduled on December 24,” said a letter issued by the state higher education department on Sunday.
After the convocation, speaking to the media, Sau said: “The court acted as per law. I also acted as per law. Even when the chancellor opens the convocation, he later delegates the power to the V-C who conducts the event. In the absence of the chancellor the V-C does the job.”
Members of the JU court held a meeting on Sunday and decided to proceed with the convocation.
JU registrar Snehamanju Basu said, “JU is an autonomous institution. Hence the members of the university’s court take the decisions. In a bid to ensure that students, who receive their degrees at the convocation, do not face any hassles in future, the court members requested the interim V-C to delegate the powers to the pro V-C to preside over the event and hand over the certificates to the students.”
UGC chief Kumar did not respond to requests seeking comment.
Raj Bhavan warned that it would initiate a probe against Sau, adding that it was seeking legal opinions to explore whether the expenses of the ‘unauthorised’ convocation could be deducted from his salary.
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“The chancellor (governor Bose) has said that public money incurred on this unauthorised convocation will be recovered from the salary of the VC and others responsible. The chancellor is seeking legal opinions on this,” said a Raj Bhavan official.
“The chancellor has sought expert legal opinion on whether he can grant post-facto approval to the convocation without which the degrees awarded to the students (certificates signed by Sau) will become invalid. The chancellor wants to avoid it,” said an official of Raj Bhavan.
The chancellor also convened an emergency meeting of officiating V-Cs of universities across the state. An emergency task force was set which would hold discussion with the UGC on the JU incident.
