Professor Subha Shankar Sarkar has resigned as the head of a five-member committee constituted by Jadavpur University to investigate recent vandalism on the campus allegedly involving ABVP workers, citing his inability to conduct the inquiry effectively, a university official said on Monday.
The university will appoint a new chairperson to oversee the investigation, the official said.
JU acting registrar Selim Box Mandal said Sarkar had communicated his inability to head the panel and that a new chairperson would be appointed shortly.
Sarkar, a former vice-chancellor of Netaji Subhas Open University, informed Jadavpur University Vice-Chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee by email on Saturday that he would not be able to take up the assignment.
Speaking to PTI on Monday, Sarkar said he had informed the vice-chancellor immediately after receiving the appointment communication. He said he was currently in Delhi and that the inquiry would require regular interaction with people who were present on the campus during the incident.
Sarkar said the university authorities had suggested that he could conduct the proceedings online, but he felt that a virtual inquiry would not be effective.
A clash broke out between ABVP members and Left-leaning student groups at Jadavpur University in the early hours of August 20, with both sides accusing each other of bringing outsiders onto the campus.
The RSS-affiliated Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) alleged that members of Left student organisations, including the SFI and DSO-DSF, had initiated confrontations under the cover of a meeting of the Faculty of Engineering and Technology Students' Union (FETSU).
The Left-leaning groups, however, accused the ABVP of bringing outsiders onto the campus and engaging in vandalism.
Sarkar's resignation came hours before the Akhil Bhartiya Rashtriya Shaikshik Mahasangh, the teachers' wing of the RSS, wrote to the JU vice-chancellor opposing his appointment as head of the inquiry panel.
The organisation questioned Sarkar's selection, citing his removal as chairman of the West Bengal School Service Commission in January 2022 following proceedings before the Calcutta High Court concerning alleged recruitment irregularities.
The university had announced the formation of the committee on August 21 following a demonstration by students, teachers and citizens protesting against the alleged vandalism on the campus.
In its letter to the vice-chancellor, the RSS-linked teachers' organisation said Sarkar's appointment could raise questions about the “credibility, independence and impartiality” of the inquiry.
It demanded that the panel be headed by a retired judge of the Calcutta High Court or Supreme Court to ensure an independent and transparent investigation.
Bhaskar Sardar, president of the organisation's JU unit, welcomed Sarkar's resignation.
Sardar claimed that Sarkar was appointed chairman of the school service commission in December 2020 while serving as vice-chancellor of Netaji Subhas Open University. He further claimed that the Calcutta High Court had expressed dissatisfaction with the commission's functioning and questioned Sarkar's continuation as its chairman.
“Such a man cannot head an inquiry panel into attacks against us. A conspiracy was hatched against us for the damage of the university plaque,” an ABVP spokesperson said.
(With inputs from PTI)
