On December 23, West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose removed the officiating Vice-Chancellor of Jadavpur University, Budhhadeb Sau, a day before the university was scheduled to hold its annual convocation and warned that the expenses incurred to organise the ‘unauthorised’ convocation would be deducted from Sau’s salary, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
On the next day, December 24, Sau defied the governor’s order and officiated the university’s annual convocation. “The decision to continue as the acting VC of the university is for the sake of the students of the institution,” said Sau. The governor’s decision came after the university authorities decided to go ahead with its annual convocation event on December 24 after getting permission from the state higher education department, despite objections raised by the governor, the ex-officio chancellor of all state-run universities.
“The authorisation given to Prof Budhhadeb Sau dated August 17, 2023, to exercise the powers and perform duties of the office of the vice-chancellor, is withdrawn.
The order will take immediate effect,” stated the letter. Giving more details on this, a Raj Bhavan official said the governor, who is also the chancellor of the university, has said that the public money incurred on this unauthorised convocation would be recovered from the salary of the VC and others responsible. “The governor is seeking legal opinion on this,” he added.
University convocation
The state higher education department granted permission to university authorities to hold meetings of the executive council and the court to discuss issues related to organising the convocation, clearing the path for the annual convocation but not the honorary degree event on December 24, as stated in a report by The New Indian Express.
An official from the university said, "The executive council meeting was held on December 18 and modalities of the convocation were discussed. The university authorities requested the higher education department to grant funds for organising the convocation."
The problem surfaced when the governor, as a chancellor, refused to allow the authorities to hold the court meeting to ratify decisions to go ahead with the convocation. Sau said he received two letters, one from the governor and the other from the state government. “I put both the letters before the University’s court which asked me to continue,” he said.
