THANJAVUR: The Syndicate of Tamil University has given permission to Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption (DVAC) to register a case against former registrar S Muthukumar and his personal assistant Sakthi Saravanan over alleged irregularities in the appointment of 21 professors and 100 non-teaching staff in the University during 2017. The decision was taken at the Syndicate meeting held in Chennai on Saturday.
The DVAC had conducted a preliminary enquiry and had sought Government’s permission to register a case against G Baskaran, former Vice-Chancellor, S Muthukumar, former Registrar, G Sakthi Saravanan, Assistant and P.A. to the registrar and N Baskaran, the Director of Distance Education.
The government clarified that permission was not required to register a case against G Baskaran, the former VC and N Baskaran as they were no longer public servants. Subsequently, DVAC sought permission from the Syndicate for filing cases against S Muthukumar, former registrar and G SakthiSaravanan who are still public servants.
The Madurai Branch of Madras High Court which was hearing a batch of petitions opined that the Syndicate cannot sit in judgment over the enquiry conducted by DVAC and the approval of the Syndicate was only a formal approval. Also, the court directed the Vice-Chancellor and the Syndicate to respond to the DVAC in two weeks time.
Following this, the Syndicate meeting of the Tamil University was held at Chennai on October 9 to decide upon according permission to DVAC to file regular cases. Though there was clear direction from the court, the meeting could not take a decision and it was decided to take the legal opinion.
However, when the meeting was held once again on October 12 (Saturday), at Chennai, the Syndicate accorded permission to DVAC to file a regular case. This decision was reported to the Madurai Bench of Madras High court on Monday.
It might be noted the preliminary enquiry made by DVAC found out violations of rules in the appointment of 21 professors and around 100 non-teaching staff during the year 2017. It is said many of the 21 persons appointed as professors did not guide a single Ph.D., scholar which was a requirement. Even some selected
candidate did not have Ph.D., in the relevant department.
Many eligible candidates with high Academic Performance Indicators (API) score were not selected whereas those with low scores were selected, the inquiry found. Some of those already working in the University were approached for 15-40 lakhs as gratification for promotion/appointment as Professor, the preliminary enquiry by DVAC revealed.
As allegations were held as substantiated the DVAC proposed to register a regular case under various sections of Indian Penal Code and sections of Prevention of Corruption Act. With the permission of the Syndicate, it is learnt that DVAC would soon file an FIR in the case.