Matter is closed, CUG tells 9 teachers

“Therefore, pursuant to your reply to the notice referred to above, the university has accepted your explanation and the matter stands closed,” it added. The showcause notice was issued by the university on April 20 to nine faculty members, including one professor, one associate professor and seven assistant professors, after it received complaints forwarded by the HRD Ministry, office of the Gujarat Chief Electoral Officer and the state education department. All three had forwarded the unsigned complaint written on a letterhead of the ABVP, the students’ organisation affiliated to the RSS, with the line, “Students of ABVP of CUG”, at the end. However, the ABVP denied sending any such complaint.

The complaint addressed to HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar included as “documentary evidence” a photograph of the teachers, purportedly taken at an event in Ahmedabad that was attended by Congress president Rahul Gandhi last November. Stating that it constitutes a serious breach of official code of conduct and Central Civil Services (conduct) Rule number 5, the complaint also accused the teachers of “making Central University of Gujarat another JNU”. Rule 5 of the CCS (Conduct) Rule prohibits all government employees from associating themselves with any political party. It also forbids them from canvassing in elections.

In their explanation, the faculty members sought documentary evidence on the basis of which showcause notice were issued to them. Calling the information on the basis of which the showcause notice was issued as “absolutely false, concocted with some ulterior purposes and oblique motive”, the faculty members denied allegations made against them of participating in “canvassing for certain candidates of a particular political party”.