Jadavpur University has withdrawn an explanation notice issued to professor Arup Gayen over his approval of a campus convention addressed by Neha Bora, bringing an immediate end to the disciplinary question after teachers and students protested the university’s action.
Gayen had received the notice in his capacity as chairman of the university’s approving and programme monitoring committee, which had cleared the event at KP Basu Hall on October 5. RSS-affiliated teachers and student organisations had objected to the programme and accused him of allowing it in violation of due procedure.
Vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee informed Gayen by email that the notice had been revoked after a discussion with the professor. “Now I understand under what circumstances and in what context the programme was approved by you as the chairman of the ‘approving and programme monitoring committee’. Based on the discussion the undersigned had with you, I feel no more written explanation is required from your side,” the vice-chancellor wrote.
“Accordingly, the explanation asked from you has been revoked,” Bhattacharjee added in the email.
Asked what had prompted the reversal, the vice-chancellor told Metro that he had spoken to Gayen and concluded that no explanation was required. “The chapter is closed,” he said.
The university has, however, dissolved and reconstituted the committee that had approved the event. Bhattacharjee described the move as a routine administrative exercise and said the new panel was “balanced” and would work fairly under its usual terms of reference.
The decision to withdraw the notice followed a meeting between the Jadavpur University Teachers’ Association and the vice-chancellor. The association opposed the action against Gayen, arguing that teachers provide voluntary service when they head university panels and could be discouraged from taking on such responsibilities if they were penalised for committee decisions.
“We told the VC that teachers provide voluntary service to head panels… If they are penalised like this, no teacher will cooperate,” a teacher who attended the meeting said. According to the teacher, the vice-chancellor had promised that the notice would be revoked.
The dispute centres on the university’s process for approving events on campus. The committee chaired by Gayen was responsible for vetting programmes and monitoring them after approval. The objections to the October 5 convention had therefore raised questions about whether the required procedure had been followed and who should be accountable when a panel clears a programme.
Bhaskar Sardar, a Jadavpur University professor and president of the RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh, had alleged that permission for the event was granted in violation of due procedure. The university has not indicated any further action against Gayen after withdrawing the notice. Its reconstituted committee is expected to handle approvals under the existing terms of reference.
