he Vice Chancellor of Visva Bharati University, Sushanta Dattagupta, has tendered his resignation from the post.
Accused of financial irregularities, Prof. Dattagupta has sent his resignation to the President.
Speaking to The Hindu he refused to admit that there was pressure on him and said that he has taken the decision based on his conscience.
“I was perplexed by the cooked up charges brought against me. I was never given any audience and was not allowed to tell my side of the story,” Prof Dattagupta said.
The Vice Chancellor of the Central University said that not giving an opportunity to defend himself is against the principle of natural justice. A physicist, Prof Dattagupta was earlier head of Indian Institute of Science Education and Research and Satyendra Nath Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences.
He has not been stranger to controversies in the past as well. In 2014 the West Bengal Commission for Women had questioned the Centre’s decision to Award Padma Shri to Prof Dattagupta as allegations of sexual harassment were raised against him.
An inquiry was initiated against him by Ministry of Human Resource and Development. The inquiry was conducted by Justice Sakharam Singh Yadav, former Judge of Allahabad high court, B. Datta, chairman of Sri Aurobindo Institute of Indian Culture in Shillong, and Dilip K. Chakrabarti, professor of South Asian Archaeology, University of Cambridge.
The Committee had submitted its report to the Ministry in March.
Another VC resigns over outside influence
After being confined overnight by protesting students, Kalyani University Vice-Chancellor Rattan Lal Hangloo on Thursday tendered his resignation.
In the past also Prof Hangloo had expressed his displeasure over “outside influences” in the University.
“The agitation has been going on since last morning. More than 15 staff members, including officials of the VC’s office, were held right up to this time (Thursday morning),” he said, adding that a section of students are being mobilised with the help of “outside influences” every few months.
I was perplexed by the cooked up charges. I was not allowed to tell my side of the story
