After Governor nullifies JU interim VC's role, West Bengal Govt backs him

KOLKATA: Amid the uncertainty over the authority of “removed” officiating vice-chancellor Buddhadeb Sau, Jadavpur University on Saturday confirmed having received a letter from the West Bengal government stating that he will continue to discharge his responsibilities.

Governor CV Ananda Bose, as the chancellor of state universities, removed Sau on the eve of the university’s convocation on December 24. The convocation was, however, held as scheduled following the intervention of the state’s higher education department.

The governor, who had termed the action of the state in support of the sacked VC as “unauthorised and illegal”, on January 4 wrote a letter to the university stating that the authorisation granted to Sau on August 17 to discharge duties of officiating VC was withdrawn.

Now, the higher education department in a letter said that its stance taken before the convocation on the continuation of Sau as the officiating VC till the appointment of a full-time vice-chancellor "stands for itself", according to a senior varsity official.

A few days back, JU Registrar Snehamanju Basu had written to the department seeking its guidance on the imbroglio. "This (is) issued with the approval of competent authority," the department said in the letter, a copy of which was made available to PTI.

Education Minister Bratya Basu said two days ago that by facilitating the convocation on the scheduled date, the department wanted to ensure that the future of students was not harmed.

The Jadavpur University Teachers' Association, the leading teaching body of the varsity, has called upon the authorities to clear the air in view of the conflicting views of the two sides. West Bengal’s TMC government has been in conflict with Raj Bhavan over appointment of officiating vice-chancellors in a number of state-run universities.