Second Year in A Row: Governor objects, JU goes ahead with its convocation

State Education Minister Bratya Basu, however, in a social media post virtually dismissed the allegations of violation of law surrounding the convocation. Basu posted on X, “The convocation of a university like Jadavpur University is a sacrosanct event for the students and the faculties of that institution and it has been held on 24th of December for a very long time. One does not play with the convention and heritage of such an institution. Moreover, due process of law has been observed as far as practicable and nothing that benefits the students can be withheld indefinitely.”

According to sources, the court meeting was supposed to start in the presence of Governor Bose, the chancellor. But the Governor did not attend. His nominated representative Jitendranath Roy was, however, present. Finally, around 9.45 am, the court meeting was held in presence of interim Vice-Chancellor Bhaskar Gupta and Assistant V-C, which was followed by the convocation ceremony.

In his address, the vice-chancellor said undergraduate degrees were awarded to 519 arts students; 1,017 engineering and technology students; and 108 science students; while post-graduate degrees were awarded to 996 arts students, 438 engineering and technology students, and 204 science students.

Raj Bhavan’s complaint about the convocation of Jadavpur University was that the convocation was organized in haste without following the ‘statute’ (rules) of the university. The Governor termed the matter as ‘completely illegal’.

Last year too, a controversy erupted at JU around the convocation after Governor Bose refused to convene. The then interim vice-chancellor Buddhadeb Sau overruled the objection and announced to hold the convocation with the permission of the state government. Just before the convocation, the Governor removed him from the post. Even after that, Buddhadeb held the convocation ceremony.