A Public Interest Litigation (PIL) has been filed in the Calcutta High Court against West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose for appointing a new interim vice-chancellor for Jadavpur University (JU) amid the recent controversies over the ragging-death of a fresher at the university.
The governor, who is also the Chancellor of the university, recently appointed a JU faculty member with the Mathematics department, Buddhadeb Sau, as the interim Vice-Chancellor of the university, reported IANS.
Challenging the decision in his PIL, petitioner Dr Rajesh Das, a faculty member of Burdwan University in West Bengal, argued that there is no provision for the appointment of an interim vice-chancellor as the norms laid down on this count by the University Grants Commission (UGC).
The petitioner also argues that the governor had appointed interim vice-chancellors in as many as 13 state universities so far.
Meanwhile, Chief Justice TS Sivagnanam observed that since a case in the matter of appointment of interim vice-chancellor for JU is heard at the Supreme Court, any hearing in the PIL can be heard by Calcutta High Court only after the case in the apex court is finalised, IANS added.
Jadavpur University has been in the headlines due to the death of a first-year fresher student due to alleged ragging and sexual harassment. Investigation is currently underway in the case and 13 persons have been arrested so far.
