Rohtak: MDU suspends physical education HoD after probe finds illegal fines, administrative lapses

The university’s executive council (EC) made the decision after accepting the inquiry committee’s findings and ordering the suspension of prof Bhagat Singh Rathee during its meeting on July 9

Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), Rohtak has suspended the head of its department of physical education after a fact-finding committee found that students were subjected to unauthorised collection of fines, harassment and misuse of authority in the department.

The committee found that ₹61,300 had been collected from students as fines for being absent from sports activities, seminars, farewell functions and other departmental events. (HT File)

The university’s executive council (EC) made the decision after accepting the inquiry committee’s findings and ordering the suspension of prof Bhagat Singh Rathee during its meeting on July 9. “Resolved that the report of the fact-finding committee be accepted and prof Rathee, department of physical Education, be placed under suspension with immediate effect, further action be initiated as per rules,” reads the EC’s resolution.

The three-member committee, constituted by the vice-chancellor on June 10, was tasked with probing complaints lodged by students alleging illegal collection of fines, harassment and misuse of authority in the department. According to the report, during the inquiry the committee examined complainants, faculty members, HoDs, research scholars and students besides scrutinising university records and written submissions.

The committee found that ₹61,300 had been collected from students as fines for being absent from sports activities, seminars, farewell functions and other departmental events. It concluded that no provision under the university’s Act statutes, ordinances or regulations empowered any faculty member to impose or collect such fines.

The department justified the penalties based on a constitution framed for the physical education society in June 2025. However, the inquiry found that the society had neither received approval from the competent university authority nor conformed to the provisions of the MDU Act and Statutes, rendering the fines legally untenable.

The committee noted that the HoD informed it that the amount was intended to be deposited in the physical education society’s account. However, the society had never been registered and the money was never transferred to any such account. It further observed that the departmental committee had never approved any proposal to transfer the collected amount to the proposed society.

Besides the illegal recovery of fines, the committee identified significant violations of university attendance rules as attendance records showed several students had zero attendance for entire months, yet the department failed to initiate any action prescribed under the university prospectus.

It observed that the department ignored provisions relating to re-admission of students falling short of attendance and failed to recover the prescribed re-admission fee of ₹1,000, potentially causing financial loss to the university.

The panel recommended constituting a separate committee to assess the financial loss arising from non-implementation of attendance rules.

In his written response to the committee, prof Bhagat Singh maintained that the penalties were imposed under the proposed constitution of the physical education society and acknowledged that research scholars collected the money on his instructions.