Law Ministry okays removal of Visva-Bharati VC

The Union law ministry has given a green signal to the Human Resource Development (HRD) to terminate the service of Visva-Bharati University vice-chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta.

The HRD had held Dattagupta guilty of irregularities, following which he resigned last year.
In a communiqué to Dattagupta, the law ministry approved the procedures the HRD followed in seeking removal as VC. The ministry passed on the same message to the HRD on Friday, pointing out that removing Dattagupta no longer has legal roadblocks.

The academic, who took up the job in 2011, would be one of the first VCs of a central university to be removed by the government.

Trouble started for Dattagupta in March 2015 when the HRD raised questions about some decisions related to appointments and finances. A three-member committee set up by the Centre found him guilty of “financial and administrative irregularities” and the HRD decided to take action against him.

The office of President Pranab Mukherjee, ex-officio visitor of all central universities, returned the file in November, after Dattagupta claimed to being framed by section of the varsity’s academia.