Today, October 17, the Calcutta High Court delivered a significant ruling, asserting that Vice-Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty should be relieved of his position at Visva-Bharati University (VBU) in connection with the Prof Manas Maity case. This case centred around Prof Manas Maity, a Physics professor at VBU, who had faced allegations of breaching discipline as put forth by the vice-chancellor. This charge ultimately resulted in Prof Maity's removal from the prestigious European Council for Nuclear Research (CERN) project, a decision that had significant ramifications.
Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, the lawyer representing Prof Manas Maity informed that the court, during its deliberation, examined the actions of the university's vice-chancellor and concluded that he had been acting contrary to the best interests of the institution. By initiating the removal of a star professor from an international research endeavour, thereby, effectively disassociating VBU from the project, the vice-chancellor's actions were deemed detrimental to the university. “The court rightly decided that such a man should have no right to remain in this position,” asserts Mr Bhattacharya
It is worth noting that Prof Manas Maity has been a key figure in the Physics department at Visva Bharati since 2005. He has been a prominent scientist representing the university in the CERN project. In 2021, there was a public protest by the professors of the English department at the university, contesting the decision made by the vice-chancellor. Subsequently, these professors were allegedly detained for over six hours. Prof Maity, however, actively protested against this detainment, took action by involving the police, and successfully secured the release of the detained professors. In response to his actions, the vice-chancellor initiated disciplinary proceedings against Prof Maity.
Prof Manas Maity, a respected executive member of the Visva-Bharati University Faculty Association (VBUFA) and an internationally renowned scientist, played a significant role in the 2012 discovery of the Higgs Boson particle. For the CERN project, he was collaborating on the global research initiative known as the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) since 2005. Funding for this research was provided by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Union government, and Prof Maity was the lead investigator for VBU. However, following his suspension earlier in the year, the vice-chancellor took the step of writing to the DST, requesting the termination of funding for Prof Maity's research. In response, the DST conveyed their inability to continue funding the project in a subsequent letter.
Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay, in his ruling, observed that the vice-chancellor should be removed from his post and also directed the university to take action within the next seven days to reinstate Manas Maiti's participation in the CERN project, directing the rescission of the suspension order that had been issued against the professor, effective since May 4, 2022. As an interim order, the Calcutta High Court ordered an expeditious disposal (within two months) of the disciplinary charges against him.
