The university registrar was initially suspended on Friday evening by the vice-chancellor for financial “misuse”, but the suspension was revoked by the lieutenant governor as “due process” was not followed, as per the official communication.
The university registrar was initially suspended on Friday evening by the vice-chancellor for financial “misuse”, but the suspension was revoked by the lieutenant governor as “due process” was not followed, as per the official communication.
As it completed one year of its establishment, Pondicherry Technological University (PTU) courted controversy over the suspension of its registrar G Sivaraja on charges of financial “misuse” by Vice Chancellor S Mohan and, thereafter, another by Lieutenant Governor Tamilisai Sundararajan. Immediate revocation of suspension by way of order, who is also the Chancellor of the University.
Late on Friday evening, Mr. Mohan issued an order suspending Mr. Shivraja for abusing his official position, corruption in the PTU and financial misappropriation. “Preliminary investigation has revealed that the allegations against Mr. G. Sivaradje have been found to be prima facie true. Apart from this several (other) allegations have been made against him which are available in public forums and newspapers,” Mr. Mohan said in his order. The order stated that the Vice-Chancellor has initiated action in accordance with the powers conferred under the Pondicherry Technological University Act, 2019.
Soon after the VC’s communication was made public, the Lieutenant Governor issued a one-line communication stating that the suspension of the officer through an order stands revoked with immediate effect. According to a government source, the Lt Governor quashed the suspension order as the Vice-Chancellor had not followed due process in suspending an employee of the rank of an officer.
According to the source, section 15 and sub-section 14 of the Act read “The Vice-Chancellor has the power to suspend, discharge, dismiss or otherwise take any disciplinary action after giving a reasonable opportunity to the employees of the University to protect them.” Further, section 3 and sub-section 3 of the Act states that “the Chancellor of the University shall have the power to suspend, remove any officer of the University.” However, even the Chancellor was duty bound as per the Act to issue show cause notices before initiating disciplinary action, the source said.
“Therefore, as per the Act and the statute of the University, the Vice-Chancellor has no right to take unilateral action against an employee in the rank of an officer in the University. Further, it is also observed that the Vice-Chancellor has not conducted any inquiry or given notice to the Registrar for clarification or opportunity to show cause,” said an internal government note.
The official said that the government is not paying attention to the merits of the allegations leveled against the registrar by the vice-chancellor. “We are not saying whether the registrar is guilty or not, but due process was not followed. Even the education minister was not informed about the issues pointed out by the VC or consulted before issuing the suspension order,” the official said.