CHENNAI: Governor RN Ravi has revoked the suspension of former vice-chancellor of Anna University, R Velraj, who was suspended on the day of his retirement, on July 31, for his alleged involvement in granting affiliation to private engineering colleges involved in the “fake faculty” scam.
Velraj served as the vice chancellor of Anna University from 2021 until August 2024, after which he went back to his earlier role of working as professor in the mechanical engineering department.
A person privy to the development said the former V-C appealed to the governor-chancellor of the university against his suspension before approaching the Madras HC to challenge it. Based on his appeal, the suspended academic was informed on Saturday through a letter about the revoking of his suspension by the governor.
Last year, the NGO Arappor Iyakkam had unearthed the malpractice of 200 colleges affiliated to Anna University, allegedly having around 2,000 ghost faculty, who existed only on paper.
On the basis of the allegation, DVAC found evidence and sought permission from the governor to question Velraj. Raj Bhavan had reportedly denied the approval, following which the syndicate had initiated action to suspend Velraj.
As per the statutes of the varsity, as the complaints were made during the tenure of his V-C, the DVAC needed permission from chancellor to initiate inquiry against him. A few of the faculty members of the university said Velraj was suspended for his proximity with the Raj Bhavan.
His suspension on the day of his retirement attracted criticism. Human Resource Management Department of Tamil Nadu had recently issued an order prohibiting such suspensions on the last day of service, a practice which had come under criticism from the Madras High Court as well in the past.