Visva-Bharati hopes Amartya Sen will respond to eviction notice by next week

The university has claimed that Sen is in possession of 1.38 acres of land on the Santiniketan campus, which is in excess of his legal entitlement of 1.25 acres

Visva-Bharati on Saturday said it is hopeful that Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, who is accused of illegally holding a 13-decimal plot owned by the university, will respond by next week to an eviction notice sent to him.

Otherwise, the central university said, it will take any decision deemed appropriate to recover "unauthorisedly occupied land".

The eviction notice, pasted near the main gate of Sen's Santiniketan residence on Friday as well as mailed to him, said that the “proceedings will be disposed of on April 19 through a final order”.

The 89-year-old economist is now abroad.

"He (Sen) is yet to respond to the notice. We will wait for a few more days ... till the middle of next week as specified in the notice," Visva-Bharati spokesperson Mahua Banerjee told PTI.

According to the notice, Sen or his advocates or authorised representatives may remain present during the disposal and passing of the final order at 12 noon on April 19. He can also submit a written statement by 6 pm on April 18 as the “last chance”.

The university has been claiming that Sen is in possession of 1.38 acres of land on the Santiniketan campus, which is in excess of his legal entitlement of 1.25 acres.

Denying the charges, Sen has repeatedly accused the varsity authorities of harassing him as he is a critic of several actions of Vice Chancellor Bidyut Chakraborty and voiced his objection to certain policies of the Narendra Modi government.