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WB govt allows Jadavpur University V-C to hold convocation; Governor skips event
Governor CV Ananda Bose, who is the ex-officio chancellor of all state-run universities in West Bengal, removed the university’s interim V-C Buddhadeb Sau on Saturday
The tug-of-war between the chief minister Mamata Banerjee-led administration and the Raj Bhavan scaled a new height over the removal of the interim vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University just ahead of the university’s annual convocation.
While Governor CV Ananda Bose, who is the ex-officio chancellor of all state-run universities in West Bengal, removed the university’s interim V-C Buddhadeb Sau on Saturday, the state higher education department was quick to reinstate him and allowed the convocation to be held on Sunday, citing Supreme Court orders.
Bose skipped the convocation on Sunday. Even the chairperson of the University Grants Commission M Jagadeesh Kumar, who was invited as the chief guest, did not attend. Bose had appointed Sau as the officiating vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University in August this year.
“JU [Jadavpur University] 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. The interim V-C was present on the dias,” Snehamanju Basu, university registrar told the media.
Also Read: WB Governor removes Jadavpur University’s interim VC on eve of convocation ceremony
Earlier this month, the state higher education department permitted the university to hold the annual convocation on December 24, like every year.
The department had even allowed the university authorities to hold meetings of the executive council and the court to discuss issues related to organising the convocation. However, the Governor, citing university rules, according to which an interim vice-chancellor cannot hold any meeting, objected to the decision and refused authorities to hold the court.
The Governor then issued a notice to remove Sau as the interim V-C after the university decided to go ahead with the annual convocation on December 24. On Sunday the court members held a meeting before the convocation and decided to go ahead with the event.
“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,” Sau told the media.
The Raj Bhavan warned of a probe against Sau and that it was seeking legal opinions to explore whether the expenses of the ‘unauthorised’ convocation could be deducted from his salary, the state government called the removal of Sau as ‘arbitrary and whimsical”.
“The chancellor 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.
Moreover, 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 will become invalid, another Raj Bhavan official said.
The chancellor has also convened an emergency meeting of officiating V-Cs of universities across the state. An emergency task force is also being sent to the UGC for further discussions, it said.
