That Sabujkoli Sen, a professor of philosophy, was a popular figure in Visva-Bharati was evident on Tuesday when students, disregarding social distancing norms, flocked at her home and wrote emotional posts on social media to bid her farewell on her retirement.
Only that she, technically speaking, didn’t get to retire. She was to retire on August 31, but on the evening of August 28, she along with two other senior officials was dismissed from service, for allegedly tampering with the minutes of a crucial meeting held back in February 2018 with the intention of prolonging her stay as the officiating Vice-Chancellor.
Ms. Sen, by the virtue of being the senior-most director on the campus, took charge as the officiating V-C on February 3 that year. Her term as a director — and therefore the officiating V-C — was to end on February 24. A meeting of the executive council was held on February 17 — the minutes of the same meeting are said to have been tampered with — to decide whether she continue beyond that date. In the absence of a unanimous decision, the matter went to the HRD Ministry, which then wrote to the university saying it had consulted the Law Ministry and that Ms. Sen could continue to officiate until the appointment of a full-time V-C. She held the job till November 9, 2018.
The manner in which the university went about her dismissal — just two days before her retirement — lends some weight to her claim that the move was unfair and the result of a personal vendetta. If one goes by the timeline of events, it does appear to be an outcome of the institution’s internal politics.
Though the alleged wrongdoing was committed in February 2018, an internal enquiring committee was set up only in July 2019 and it was not until November 2019 when she was served with a show-cause notice. She replied to the notice, seeking evidence that she had tampered with the records. The matter then died down. Then, suddenly in June 2020, in the midst of the pandemic, Ms. Sen and the two others were suspended and a one-man committee was set up to probe the alleged wrongdoing.
On August 25, she received an email from acting registrar Asha Mukherjee, who informed her that the committee had found her guilty and that she had two days to reply, failing which the university would take action. Ms. Sen replied that she needed 10 days’ time, considering the committee’s report was 40 pages long.
But at 10 p.m. on August 28, Ms. Sen received another official email, which informed her that her services stood terminated. She now plans to move the Calcutta High Court. “I waited for two years for them to take action against me, but they did nothing. Finally, just two days before my retirement, they served me with a termination order. The idea was to humiliate me and to stop my retirement benefits,” Ms. Sen told The Hindu .
Had Ms. Sen stepped down as the officiating V-C on February 24, Asha Mukherjee would have succeeded her by the virtue of being the senior most principal (in the absence of a director, the senior most principal is eligible to officiate as V-C). But that was not to be. And last week, it was Ms. Mukherjee who, in her capacity as the acting registrar, served Ms. Sen with the final show-cause notice. Incidentally, they both retired on August 31.
University PRO Anirban Sircar — the only official authorised to speak to the media — said he did not wish to comment on the matter.
