The Periyar University has disagreed with the findings of the retired District Judge whom it appointed to inquire into the disciplinary proceedings against four consolidated staff, and has now served a notice on the staff seeking explanation.
The faculty has termed the University’s action an act of revenge.
Highlighting their demands, the consolidated pay staff at the University staged a protest in September 2019 and it was widely covered in the media. On October 3 and 4, the University served a memo on four consolidated staff members — C. Sakthivel, P. Krishnaveni, R. Kanivannan, and S. Senthilkumar —alleging that they had given interviews to the media and tarnished the University’s image. Though the four members gave an explanation to the memo, the University suspended them on October 29.
Later, the four staff members moved the Madras High Court. In response, the University said that retired District Judge P. Nallathambi has been appointed to inquire into the disciplinary proceedings against the staff members.
While the inquiry was under way, on March 4, 2022, the University dismissed the four members. The staff again approached the Madras High Court and claimed that they were dismissed while the inquiry was pending. Following this, the Madras High Court quashed the dismissal order of the University, and the inquiry continued.
Meanwhile, on September 13, the inquiry officer submitted his report. The report said that the “the four staff did not indulge in any kind of misconduct as alleged in the show cause notices (dated October 3 and 4, 2019). Therefore, the charges against the four staff members were not proved. In this way, this inquiry is ordered and closed.”
On December 21, the University served a new showcause notice on the four staff members, mentioning that the University proposes to differ from the findings and the conclusions of the inquiry officer in relation to the charges. The University sought an explanation from the staff within 15 days from the date of receipt of the notice.
The president of the Association of University Teachers (AUT), P. Thirunavukkarasu said that after their own inquiry officer said there was no evidence against the four staff, the action of the University against them was undemocratic. On behalf of the AUT, we condemn the action and the Vice-Chancellor. The AUT president urged the Higher Education Department Secretary and the Minister of Higher Education to look into the matter.
Efforts to contact Periyar University Vice-Chancellor R. Jagannathan went in vain.
However, the V-C passed a message through the Public Relations Officer of the University that action would be taken as per law.
