Sai University executive council member Sriram Panchu resigns over sexual and academic misconduct of Vice-Chancellor

Senior Advocate, Madras High Court and member of Sai University’s Executive Council, Sriram Panchu, on May 26, has sent in his resignation to the Chancellor of Sai University, K.V. Ramani, after the University reportedly failed to enquire and act against University’s Vice-Chancellor, Ajith Padath Abraham. Mr. Panchu said that there were “credible allegations of sexual misconduct involving a minor in the United States and academic misconduct” against the Vice-Chancellor.

In a telephonic conversation to The Hindu, Mr. Panchu confirmed that the allegations of sexual misconduct with a minor and academic misconduct were grave and warranted an “immediate and urgent enquiry”.

“I have resigned from the Executive Council. I have sent my resignation on May 26 to the Chancellor of Sai University. I have expressed serious concerns about the allegations against the Vice-Chancellor. I have said that this warrants an immediate, and urgent enquiry, which needs to be conducted by someone who has held a high judicial office. I resigned on May 26 and no such independent review had been set up by an esteemed independent judge before said date. Since no adequate action was taken, I had no other option but to resign. I resigned with sadness since Ramani is a good friend,” said Mr. Panchu.

Mr. Panchu said that his legal team had personally vetted the material that he was in possession of and he had come to the conclusion that it warranted an immediate action.

He added, “All that Sai administration had to do was to write to Ajit Abraham’s university in Oklahoma and to the Oklahoma police to verify/confirm the details. They did not do so.”

While some former and current staff have levelled allegations against the University and the Vice-Chancellor using anonymous emails and various social media platforms, the University administration said that they have made a formal complaint to the Tamil Nadu Cyber Crime police against defamatory posts, which, they believe, are “baseless and false” and that the Chancellor has “commissioned an independent review by an esteemed member of the judiciary to examine the allegations, including those pertaining to academic issues”, which is reportedly under progress.

V-C denies allegations

Dismissing the allegations of his arrest and reports of his subsequent plea bargain in the United States, Vice-Chancellor Prof. Abraham, said, “This was a coordinated effort involving certain private individuals who sought to portray me in a highly negative and misleading manner, including making allegations that were entirely unfounded. I have never engaged in any such conversations or conduct as alleged. Furthermore, I was never arrested or charged with any offense. The allegations first surfaced in a student-run online publication 22 years ago and were subsequently amplified by various media outlets without adequate verification of the underlying facts.”

Further more, Sai University said that it had recently conducted a formal verification of criminal and police records and the search confirmed that no criminal or police records were found in relation to the Vice-Chancellor.

Prof. Abraham further added, “At no point did I enter into any agreement, bargain, or arrangement requiring me to leave the United States. In fact, I owned a home in the United States until 2010. As evidenced by my passport records, I traveled to and from the United States on multiple occasions without encountering any immigration-related issues. Furthermore, in 2016, I was issued a specific U.S. visa, which further demonstrates that there were no immigration concerns affecting my eligibility to enter the country.”