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Bengal Guv questions legality of Jadavpur University convocation; cancels decision of executive council
The Governor’s comments came a day after JU’s executive council postponed the special convocation were Dhankhar was to confer D.Litt and D.Sc on some eminent people.
The annual convocation at Jadavpur University (JU) in Kolkata, scheduled for December 24, could be tagged ‘illegal’ and this could adversely affect students, West Bengal governor Jagdeep Dhankhar said on Sunday.
The Governor’s comments came a day after JU’s executive council postponed the special convocation were Dhankhar was to confer D.Litt and D.Sc on some eminent people.
The decision was taken to avoid any untoward incident as students had threatened to stage demonstrations if the governor entered the campus, the council said in its resolution. It said a normal ceremony would be held on December 24 so that students could get their degrees.
Alleging that Dhankhar acts as a spokesperson of the Bharatiya Janata Party, several Left and far-Left student bodies that are protesting the new citizenship law on and off campus have declared that students will show black flags to the governor and will not accept certificates from him.
“Please note that any disregard entails serious consequences for the concerned. Such a course would also have the potential to adversely impact the students who may be conferred degrees in an illegal convocation,” Dhankar, who is the chancellor of all state universities by default, wrote to JU vice chancellor (VC) Suranjan Das on Sunday.
Dhankhar challenged the council’s decision to defer the special convocation and said it outrageously overstepped its jurisdictional competence.
“A question has thus arisen as to whether the Executive Council has acted in accordance with the powers conferred on it by or under the Act’ in passing the afore stated resolution. I thus invoke the power reposed in me as Chancellor in terms of proviso to Section 17 of the Act,” wrote Dhankhar. The Section he referred to says, “Provided that if any question arises as to whether the executive council has acted in accordance with the powers conferred on it by or under this Act, the matter shall be decided by reference to the Chancellor whose decision shall be final.”
“After having bestowed considered focus on this aspect I am constrained to conclude that the Executive Council has no powers,” said Dhankhar.
“I thus direct the vice chancellor that the EC resolution dated December 21 not being in accordance with the powers conferred on it by or under the Act is bereft of any competence or legal sanction and thus nullify in law. Such a resolution of the EC thus cannot be acted upon. As VC you are obliged to proceed ahead ignoring this executive council resolution,” Dhankhar wrote in his letter to the VC.
The University court, which is the apex policy making body of the university, will meet on Monday. Dhankhar is expected to preside over the meeting.
Education minister Partha Chatterjee and the vice chancellor were not available for comments. Being Sunday, offices in JU were closed.
