Anna University Syndicate suggests overruling Governor’s order

The Anna University Syndicate on Saturday recommended overruling the Governor’s order revoking the suspension of former Vice-Chancellor R. Velraj, citing lack of power to supersede a Syndicate order.

Prof. Velraj was suspended on the day of his retirement on July 31 for his alleged involvement in granting affiliation to private engineering colleges linked to the fake faculty scam. The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) has been inquiring into the case.

“The Governor’s order is void,” said I. Paranthamen, Egmore MLA and a member of the Syndicate. “We are not implementing the Governor’s order because he has no jurisdiction. We discussed it at length in the meeting today.”

The Syndicate also recommended relieving 11 officials of the University, including the Registrar, from their currently held posts in order to facilitate a DVAC inquiry into the fake faculty scam.

In the last Syndicate meeting held on July 31, an approval was given to the DVAC to proceed with inquiries into the alleged irregularities pertaining to the fake faculty scam.

“In order to ensure fair and transparent inquiry, the Syndicate recommended relieving the officials who are occupying key posts,” Mr. Paranthamen added.

Among the officials are the Registrar, the Controller of Examinations, and Director of Centre for Affiliation of Institutions. The Chairperson of the Vice-Chancellor Convener Committee has been tasked with appointing a Registrar-in-charge to oversee administrative matters.

Inquiry panel

In addition, a three-member inquiry committee headed by the Commissioner of Technical Education investigating the ghost faculty scam presented its findings in a sealed cover to the Syndicate.

The committee found irregularities in close to 200 colleges where ghost faculty members were reportedly used to puff up rosters.

The committee recommended proceeding against the institutions by way of levying penalty, suspending courses, punishment for the respective principals or a combination of them, Mr. Paranthamen said.

The Syndicate recommended that the Registrar issue a show cause notice to all these institutions.