I was axed for holding JU convocation, campus unrest provided an excuse: Ex-VC Bhaskar Gupta

Kolkata: Barely days after he was “unceremoniously” removed from the post of Jadavpur University’s interim vice-chancellor, Prof Bhaskar Gupta alleged that the decision of West Bengal Governor CV Ananda Bose “lacked both moral and legal standing”.

The unseated academic also claimed that no procedural lapses were involved in holding the varsity convocation in December last year, to which the Raj Bhavan objected on grounds of rule violations.

Gupta retired as a professor of JU on Monday after he was fired as interim VC by the Bengal governor, also the ex-officio Chancellor of all state-run universities, only four days ahead of the academic’s scheduled superannuation.

On March 29, two days after removing Gupta, the governor also directed him to refund convocation expenses out of his own pocket.

Responding to this instruction, Gupta said he would only consider the matter if the order came through the “proper channel”, namely from the state education department.

“The convocation was held following every norm in the book, with the best interests of students in mind and in keeping with the university’s glorious tradition. It had the necessary approval in the state budget and expenses were made strictly on the basis of government sanction. I did nothing wrong and I am not the least bit apologetic about it,” Gupta told PTI during an interview over telephone.

He said all resolutions regarding the convocation were unanimously passed at the Executive Council, the university’s supreme decision-making body, and its expenses were cleared by the institution’s finance committee.

"Those meetings were attended by the Chancellor’s nominee and he raised no objections about the decisions at the time," Gupta asserted. “The convocation was held on December 24 last year flouting several rules and was illegal. It was organised despite no official authorisation,” the Raj Bhavan had maintained.

The ousted interim VC, earlier considered by a section of institution insiders as the prospective full-time VC whose vacant chair he was temporarily assigned to fill in April 2024, said the Governor assigned no formal reason for his dismissal.

“The show cause letter I received from the Chancellor’s office was ridiculous and had no legal basis," he said.

Referring to the West Bengal State Universities (Terms and Conditions of Service of the Vice-Chancellor & the Manner and Procedure of Official Communication) Rules, 2019, Gupta said that the law mandates that "a VC must write via the education department in order to communicate with the Chancellor." "There’s no way I could have responded directly to him”, he reasoned, adding that the ouster decision “lacked both moral and legal standing”.

The academic said he felt overwhelmed by the support he received from colleagues, teachers and students of the varsity in the wake of his dismissal.

“I receive messages of solidarity every day. Students have offered to pool in money through donations to raise funds for the Raj Bhavan-demanded reimbursement. Obviously, I have appealed to them not to do any such thing,” the former interim VC said.

Gupta’s administrative role came under the Raj Bhavan scanner afresh after unruly scenes were witnessed on the campus on March 1 when a section of students protested near the vehicle of Education Minister Bratya Basu, who had gone there to attend a meeting of a TMC-leaning professors' association. A student was injured allegedly after being hit by the minister’s car during a protest.

“There are several reasons behind the removal of Gupta. He failed to prevent the violence at the JU campus and then failed to carry out instructions from the Chancellor repeatedly. He was called to attend an emergency meeting of the VCs called by the Chancellor (earlier this month). But he neither turned up nor gave any proper reply for his absence," an official from the Governor’s office had clarified to PTI earlier this week.

Gupta, though, dismissed the charges as “weak excuses” and alleged that the punitive action against him was “the fallout of the university going through with the convocation despite the Chancellor’s objection”.

“If for argument’s sake, I accept that I had failed in my duty in restoring order at the campus on March 1, then that would be the first such instance of administrative failure during my one-year tenure. Then why is the file to appoint a permanent VC, duly signed by the registrar, gathering dust at the Chancellor’s office since November last year? Was he waiting for an excuse to build up his case?” Gupta asked.

But why would a Chancellor be unfavourably disposed towards holding the convocation, an event that culminates the academic tenure of students and offers the institution to recognise achievers with honourary degrees? “Only he (Bose) can explain this outrage towards the ceremony,” Gupta said.