Garhwal varsity V-C Jawahar Lal Kaul resigns after President Kovind nod to his sacking

The President had approved Kaul’s dismissal but he quit the post before the government could issue formal orders announcing it. It’s unclear whether the resignation will be accepted.

Kaul could not be reached for comment. He was appointed in November 2014, when Smriti Irani was the HRD Minister and had little less than two years left in office.

The HRD Ministry had forwarded a proposal to sack Kaul and justified it on two counts. First, he allegedly allowed colleges to increase intake in some courses to 200 seats, even though university rules permit only 60 seats in each programme and 80 in exceptional cases. Second, he took a decision to charge a college affiliation fee lower than the prescribed amount.

The university was established in December 1973 and has three campuses and more than 180 affiliated colleges and institutes. Kaul was V-C of Ujjain-based Vikram University when Kashmir was devastated by floods in September 2014. During his term there, he was manhandled by members of the Bajrang Dal and the VHP when he issued an appeal to help organise relief for the flood victims.

He is the eighth central university V-C to come under the NDA government’s scanner since it came to power. Under Irani, the ministry has fired heads of universities. Inquiries were initiated against the IGNOU V-C, former head of Delhi University and the Jamia Millia Islamia V-C.