Govt cleared him, now tells court: IIM Rohtak director unfit, liable for criminal action

Now, over a year after The Indian Express flagged that Sharma did not provide his undergraduate degree to the Ministry, the Ministry has said in court that Sharma is “unfit” for the job. And liable for administrative, civil and criminal legal action for “concealing” and “misrepresenting” his educational qualifications.

A first-class Bachelor’s degree was the prerequisite for the job, but the government cleared Sharma despite his second division at the undergraduate level from Delhi University. Sharma completed his first five-year term in February last year and is serving his second term, given by the institute’s Board of Governors (BoG) on February 28, 2022, under the IIM Act.

According to a recent court filing, the Government has submitted that Sharma’s “appalling immoral, unethical and fraudulent misconduct” makes him “totally unfit” to hold the post of an IIM director.

The government filed this affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana Court last week in response to Sharma’s petition challenging the Ministry’s show-cause notice asking him to explain why it should not take action against him for abusing his position, “concealing” his Bachelor’s degree, and bringing disrepute to an institute of national importance.

Sharma petitioned the High Court last year to quash the notice on the ground that the government “lacks the jurisdiction” to do so as the institute’s Board of Governors is the appointing authority.

The Ministry has countered this argument in its affidavit stating the “entire selection process was initiated, conducted and completed by the Government of India culminating into the approval of his appointment by the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet.”

When contacted for his response to the Ministry’s latest affidavit, Sharma’s lawyer Vivek Singla said: “This matter and affidavit pertains to the previous term of Prof Sharma which ended over a year ago and has nothing to do with his present term. The ministry has repeatedly changed its position and contradicted itself. Even the present affidavit has contradictions and it appears that the entire affidavit is a cover-up for their own deficiencies… Also, there is a written letter from the ministry as well as the previous minister stating that the appointment of Prof Sharma in 2017 was done with proper procedure and he is qualified. He is one of top management professors with international recognition.”

However, the Ministry has submitted that Sharma hid his ineligibility from not only the government but also the court as he “continued to make false averment in his reply” before the Punjab and Haryana High Court in a separate case challenging his appointment to the director’s post.

When asked about the Ministry’s statement that not just Sharma but also the institute misrepresented his educational qualifications, IIM Rohtak Board Chairman JD Shroff said: “I have no comments to make since I have not read it (government’s affidavit).”

In its affidavit, the Ministry has blamed Sharma for attending the interview/personal discussion despite knowing that the invitation by the government was subject to the condition that he has a first-class Bachelor’s degree. However, the submission doesn’t explain why he was allowed to attend the same without providing his educational qualification or why no action was initiated against him for not providing his undergraduate degree to the Ministry despite three letters last year seeking the same in 2021.

The government’s admission on the illegality of Sharma’s appointment first came last year after initially denying any irregularity. However, the admission was made only after Sharma completed his five-year term.

In 2021, the ministry had even urged the High Court to dismiss the plea saying the petitioners have no locus standi since none of the 60 applicants for the Director’s job had challenged the appointment. In this affidavit filed in February 2021, the Ministry had said that Sharma’s appointment was done following due procedure and is “liable to be upheld.”  This even as the government was still trying to get hold of Sharma’s undergraduate degree.

As first reported by The Indian Express on September 15, 2021, the Ministry had written thrice to Sharma last year asking him for verified copies of his educational certificates to which he didn’t reply: The government got a copy of his degrees from IIM Rohtak only after Sharma completed his five-year term.

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He was reappointed for a second term by the institute’s Board of Governors (BoG) on February 28 this year under the IIM Act, despite the ministry representative’s objections.