University suspends registrar

Mumbai University registrar, K. Venkatramani, was suspended on Friday for failing to check irregularities in a member’s election to the senate, a governing body of the university.

Mumbai University registrar, K. Venkatramani, was suspended on Friday for failing to check irregularities in a member’s election to the senate, a governing body of the university.

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The acting vice chancellor Chandra Krishnamurthy suspended Venkatramani following an order of Governor K. Sankaranarayanan, the Chancellor of the university. The Governor had recently declared the election of Subhash Athavale as a senate member of the university as null and void as he was not qualified to contest the election.

The 150-year-old university is already in turmoil and currently functioning with only an acting vice-chancellor. L.R. Mane, the deputy registrar has been made acting registrar for now.

The Governor indicted Venkatramani, R.D. National College principal, Dinesh Panjwani and former university pro-vice chancellor A.D. Sawant. In his order, on March 5, the chancellor said that Venkatramani has failed in his duties by accepting Athavale’s nomination. “I thus direct the vice-chancellor to initiate proceedings against the registrar for punitive action in accordance with the Act,” the Governor’s order stated.

The acting vice-chancellor (VC) Chandra Krishnamurthy said, “This step is in accordance with the Governor’s order.” Venkatramani was unavailable for comment.

“These are the darkest days of the University with so much chaos. Hopefully, a new VC will come to set everything right,” said a university official.

Last November, the VC had terminated Venkatramani’s services and asked him to hand over charge of his post. But the Mumbai University and College Tribunal had squashed the order.

While four other state universities have already got new VCs, in Mumbai a VC search committee is still to be formed after the first one was dissolved last month.

Even the acting VC’s tenure ends on March 27. The governor can grant her an extension. The VC has called a meeting of university officials on March 23 to nominate one member for the new three-member VC search committee.