Daijiworld Media Network - Rohtak
Rohtak, Feb 18: Ashim Kumar Ghosh, Governor of Haryana and Chancellor of Maharshi Dayanand University (MDU), on Wednesday reinstated Registrar Krishan Kant, setting aside his suspension ordered a night earlier by Vice-Chancellor Rajbir Singh.
The Governor’s intervention followed a late-night confrontation after the Vice-Chancellor placed the registrar and a senior professor under suspension. The dispute reportedly began after the registrar emailed members of the Executive Council (EC) to postpone Wednesday’s meeting, citing directions from the State Higher Education Department.
In a letter issued through his secretary, the Governor ordered the immediate reinstatement of the registrar and directed that the Vice-Chancellor refrain from taking further action without prior approval from the Chancellor’s office. However, no direction has yet been issued regarding the suspension of Nasib Singh Gill, a professor in the computer science department.
The development comes just 48 hours before Rajbir Singh’s second term as Vice-Chancellor ends on February 20.
Tensions escalated further on Wednesday morning when the Governor’s office issued a formal directive at 11.40 am — minutes before the scheduled commencement — to postpone the 304th EC meeting, terming it a “clear violation” of government orders dated February 17. Despite the reported stay by the government, the Vice-Chancellor is said to have attempted to proceed with the meeting in online mode.
The controversy centres around the appointment of four professors and seven associate professors. On January 14, the State government had instructed the university not to issue appointment letters or permit joining without prior consent. It was alleged that a previous EC meeting had been conducted contrary to these instructions and that appointment letters were issued despite explicit directions.
A senior EC member, requesting anonymity, claimed that the Vice-Chancellor was attempting to confirm the minutes of the earlier meeting to finalise the appointments before the conclusion of his tenure.
In his suspension order issued Tuesday night, the Vice-Chancellor accused the registrar of “gross violation” of the University Act, alleging that his actions had paralysed the functioning of MDU. The registrar, however, described the suspension as “illegitimate.”
The Vice-Chancellor did not respond to media queries, and the university’s public relations department also remained unavailable for comment.