The Indian Maritime University (IMU) has suspended P. Vijayan, former vice-chancellor of the university, from the post of director of the IMU Chennai campus.
The move followed the initiation of criminal proceedings against him for charges of corruption and possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The decision was taken at an executive council meeting of the university after a CBI charge-sheet was filed against him in September this year.
The suspension order says, “The continuance in office of Dr. P. Vijayan as director of IMU’s Chennai campus will not be in the interest of students or the university or in public interest in view of the grave charges in the criminal proceedings against him”.
The order adds, “During the period of suspension, Mr. Vijayan shall be stationed at Chennai and he shall not leave headquarters without the prior written permission of the vice-chancellor.”
Earlier, in 2011, an FIR was registered by the CBI’s Anti Corruption Bureau against Mr. Vijayan for corruption and possession of assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. The President of India, as the Visitor of the university, granted sanction for prosecution in July this year.
According to sources at the university, the executive council also discussed various false claims made by Mr. Vijayan, and these were also cited as reasons for the suspension. “In the curriculum vitae submitted when he was considered for the post of vice-chancellor, Mr. Vijayan had claimed to be a professor at NITIE, when in reality he was only an associate professor there,” a senior official at IMU said.
Further, Mr. Vijayan claimed to have been a guide or co-guide to four PhD scholars, three of whom were from Madras University, but Madras University’s data did not corroborate this, the official said.
Published - November 04, 2014 02:18 am IST
