Vice Chancellor N Prabhu Dev, however, claimed that the meeting had to be adjourned as 'there were too many issues to be discussed and it was impossible to finish them in the given time'.

K V Acharya, retired professor of physics and a State Government nominee to the Syndicate, maintained that the meeting was postponed as the V-C got 'annoyed' when he questioned certain actions of his in appointment of the university staff.

"The meeting did not last even half an hour. I just wanted to know about the delay in regularising the services of the temporary staff. Besides, I questioned the rationale behind outsourcing a number of works to private players. But Dev was not really pleased with my audacity. Warning to suspend me from the Syndicate, he adjourned the meeting abruptly," Acharya told Deccan Herald. This is not the first time when discord has brewed among members of the Syndicate. Highly placed sources say that members nominated by the Government have frequently had face-offs with the V-C over what they describe as his 'autocratic' style of functioning.

"The matter reached a crescendo only now. It was simmering for quite some time," they added.

Abusive language used

Members, on condition of anonymity, told Deccan Herald that the ugly squabble also witnessed exchange of abusive language. When the name of a senior professor was mentioned in a particular context, a few members used nasty language.

But Acharya asserted that his argument was not a personal attack on the V-C.

A flat refusal

"I asked for a statement of expenditure from him but he flatly refused. When I persisted, he questioned my prerogative. Being a member of the Syndicate, I have every right to know about the varsity's functioning. I was disgusted over this response," Acharya said.
Members close to the V-C, however, defend him.

"These members (Government nominees) are actually pressurising him to give them some profitable positions. When he refused, they threw tantrums to embarrass him. But the V-C won't give in," they said. The Syndicate is a statutory body comprising 22 members with powers to manage and administer the revenues and properties of the university. Besides, it has control over the university's administrative affairs.

The meeting will now be held on Thursday and is expected to be stormy. While Acharya and his supporters allege that the V-C had threatened to recommend their suspension to the Governor, sources have ruled it out.

"If he recommends my suspension, I will sit on a strike," Acharya said.