New Delhi: Questions were asked on the legality of the appointment of a registrar, as two Delhi University (DU) groups, supported by the vice-chancellor and acting vice-chancellor, nominated separate persons for the post on Wednesday, reported Hindustan Times.
The dispute began when PC Jha, backed by vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi, according to officials, was appointed as director of the university’s south campus and as interim registrar from October 21. A notification from the joint registrar’s office said, “He has been appointed as Director South Campus in place of Prof Suman Kundu… with immediate effect till further orders. He will also act as Registrar, University of Delhi, as an interim arrangement, with immediate effect till further orders.”
However, PC Joshi, the acting vice-chancellor, accused Jha of “illegally occupying” the registrar’s office, and in a letter to Jha, said, “In case you are not vacating the office immediately, you will be forcibly moved out of office and action initiated against you.” Joshi is doing the duty as VC Tyagi is on leave.
Following this, Joshi, in a meeting of the university’s executive committee, appointed Vikas Gupta as the registrar via a resolution, with Suman Kundu working “as acting registrar till permanent/new registrar joins duty”, in contradiction to the joint registrar’s notification.
Gupta’s appointment was confirmed by executive committee member Rajesh Jha, who said, “The meeting started after a long wait following the letter of appointment for a new registrar and director South Campus…”
Describing the events as “disturbing” and “unprecedented chaos”, head of DU Teacher’s Association (DUTA) Rajib Ray said “While one registrar occupied the office, the other was acting as member secretary of the scheduled meeting of the executive council, which the former had cancelled/postponed. This has never happened before in the history of the university.”
The controversy would hurt the university’s image as an Institute of Eminence, said former academic council member Pankaj Garg.