KOCHI: Cochin University of Science and Technology Registrar V Meera on Thursday submitted before the Kerala High Court that the letter sent by the then principal of the School of Engineering seeking to arrange for adequate security and police personnel for the musical programmes organised on the campus was received by her office while she was attending a syndicate meeting.
“When the letter was received in my office on November 24, 2023 through File Flow Management System, I was attending the meeting of the syndicate in the official capacity as the secretary to the syndicate. The syndicate meeting continued till 1pm. Even though I was attending the syndicate meeting, considering the urgency and importance of the matter, my office promptly forwarded the letter to the security officer of the university at 12.10pm on November 24, 2023 itself for further necessary action, as was the usual practice,” Meera submitted.
The counter affidavit was filed on a petition filed by Kerala Students Union president Aloshius Xavier seeking an impartial inquiry by a judicial commission into the stampede which claimed four lives, including those of three engineering students.
Dipak Kumar Sahoo, the then principal of the School of Engineering, had pointed fingers to lapses on the part of the registrar. He had filed an affidavit stating that the police’s action taken report on the stampede deaths revealed that an attempt had been made to protect and salvage the registrar and the higher authorities of the university and instead “target and somehow make a scapegoat out of him and the other faculty members of the organising committee”.
The registrar is the exclusive custodian of the process to inform the police of events on the campus and to ensure that adequate security measures are taken, he submitted.
“Had the preliminary investigation examined the letter issued by the principal to the registrar, the latter’s negligence would have been proved beyond doubt. The deliberate failure to do so has resulted in the liability for the stampede being unfairly fixed upon the principal and the other members of the organising committee. In fact, without giving any reasons whatsoever, the police arraigned me and two others as accused,” Sahoo stated in his affidavit.