NAGPUR: Maharashtra governor and chancellor of universities Ramesh Bais, on Wednesday, suspended Nagpur University vice-chancellor Subhash Chaudhari with immediate effect pending an inquiry.
The development was confirmed by Gondwana University vice-chancellor Prashant Bokare, who was given additional charge as NU VC. “I received a letter from the chancellor’s office in the evening and accordingly took charge,” he told TOI.
Maharashtra higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil told TOI, “After MLCs (Pravin Datke and Abhijit Wanjarri) raised the issue of alleged corruption in awarding examination related contract (to Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited) in the state legislature, the government constituted an inquiry committee under higher education deputy secretary Ajit Bawiskar.”
“The panel was tasked with probing the award of examination-related contract to Pune-based MKCL sans tendering process and also issuing contracts for various civil works without following due procedure.After conducting a thorough probe, the panel submitted its report to Raj Bhavan. Subsequently, the chancellor’s office too did an in-depth probe into the allegations. They must have found something objectionable that led to his suspension,” Patil said.
Governor’s PRO Umesh Kashikar refused to comment terming the issue as ‘confidential’. He diverted all the queries to the chancellor’s secretary, who could not be reached. TOI also tried to repeatedly contact Chaudhari, pro-VC Sanjay Dudhe and registrar Raju Hiwase, but all of them refused to answer calls. The pro-VC did not respond to TOI’s text message as well.
Patil said the universities are autonomous bodies headed by the chancellor and only his office can take the future course of action. “The government’s role ends after the report is handed over to the chancellor. Only he has powers to act against the VCs as per the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016. As per my knowledge, even the pro-VC — who is appointed by the VC — should quit. The in charge VC can reappoint the same pro-VC if he wishes so,” the minister said.
Bokare said there was an ambiguity over this aspect and therefore, he had sought an opinion from the Raj Bhavan. “I have also sought a legal opinion from NU standing counsel. After getting NU counsel’s reply, we will submit it to the chancellor’s office.”
Bokare said he held a meeting with pro-VC, registrar and Board of Education and Evaluation (BOEE) director Prafulla Sable to take stock of the situation. “I have convened a meeting of BOEE on Thursday for reviewing the exam system and for early declaration of results,” he said.
NU Senate members attributed VC’s suspension to a series of alleged violations of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 over a period.
Four-time Senate member Manmohan Bajpayee, also a lawyer, listed a series of complaints against Chaudhari for alleged violations of statutes and provisions of the said Act. It included awarding contracts to MKCL, ending Senate meetings in just two minutes without consulting the members, and action against former head of political science department Mohan Kashikar, which was reversed by the HC.
Chaudhari, former principal of JD College of Engineering, took charge as NU VC in August 2020, but his entire tenure was marred by alleged controversies, the members said.
The development was confirmed by Gondwana University vice-chancellor Prashant Bokare, who was given additional charge as NU VC. “I received a letter from the chancellor’s office in the evening and accordingly took charge,” he told TOI.
Maharashtra higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil told TOI, “After MLCs (Pravin Datke and Abhijit Wanjarri) raised the issue of alleged corruption in awarding examination related contract (to Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Limited) in the state legislature, the government constituted an inquiry committee under higher education deputy secretary Ajit Bawiskar.”
“The panel was tasked with probing the award of examination-related contract to Pune-based MKCL sans tendering process and also issuing contracts for various civil works without following due procedure.After conducting a thorough probe, the panel submitted its report to Raj Bhavan. Subsequently, the chancellor’s office too did an in-depth probe into the allegations. They must have found something objectionable that led to his suspension,” Patil said.
Governor’s PRO Umesh Kashikar refused to comment terming the issue as ‘confidential’. He diverted all the queries to the chancellor’s secretary, who could not be reached. TOI also tried to repeatedly contact Chaudhari, pro-VC Sanjay Dudhe and registrar Raju Hiwase, but all of them refused to answer calls. The pro-VC did not respond to TOI’s text message as well.
Patil said the universities are autonomous bodies headed by the chancellor and only his office can take the future course of action. “The government’s role ends after the report is handed over to the chancellor. Only he has powers to act against the VCs as per the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016. As per my knowledge, even the pro-VC — who is appointed by the VC — should quit. The in charge VC can reappoint the same pro-VC if he wishes so,” the minister said.
Bokare said there was an ambiguity over this aspect and therefore, he had sought an opinion from the Raj Bhavan. “I have also sought a legal opinion from NU standing counsel. After getting NU counsel’s reply, we will submit it to the chancellor’s office.”
Bokare said he held a meeting with pro-VC, registrar and Board of Education and Evaluation (BOEE) director Prafulla Sable to take stock of the situation. “I have convened a meeting of BOEE on Thursday for reviewing the exam system and for early declaration of results,” he said.
NU Senate members attributed VC’s suspension to a series of alleged violations of the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, 2016 over a period.
Four-time Senate member Manmohan Bajpayee, also a lawyer, listed a series of complaints against Chaudhari for alleged violations of statutes and provisions of the said Act. It included awarding contracts to MKCL, ending Senate meetings in just two minutes without consulting the members, and action against former head of political science department Mohan Kashikar, which was reversed by the HC.
Chaudhari, former principal of JD College of Engineering, took charge as NU VC in August 2020, but his entire tenure was marred by alleged controversies, the members said.
