Gujarat CM assured us of probe against V-C: VNSGU syndicate members

The delegation told the chief minister that the V-C had unleashed a witch hunt against professors who did not agree with his ideas, and that inquiries were being conducted against them on the basis of so-called “anonymous complaints”. They alleged that Gupta was “harassing professors” by suspending their PhDs, rendering their years of vast research work useless.

The delegation that met the chief minister and state Education Minister Bhupendrasinh Chudasma was led by Sanjay Desai and included Kashyap Kharachiya and Hitendrasinh Vansiya (also the vice-president of Surat District Panchayat).

They handed over the list of 27 complaints filed in the high court against V-C Gupta, and also gave them details of the irregularities alleged to have been carried out under the leadership of Gupta in various departments of the university. They went on to say that all the rules and bylaws followed by the University as per the university act were being violated by him and his “henchmen”.

“A total of 14 professors have been suspended by him (Gupta),” Syndicate member Desai said. “We have handed a copy of the details to Chief Minister and we have sent a copy of it to Prime minister Narendra Modi.”

He said it was the first time they had made a representation to the Chief Minister personally. “He listened to us silently and assured us that a committee will be formed to investigate the allegations, and if he is (Gupta) found guilty, he would be removed. The matter of the appointment of Dr Shivendra Gupta is pending in Gujarat High Court and it is in the stage of hearing.”

The complaint against Gupta’s appointment states that he did not have teaching experience, an eligibility criterion listed for the post of V-C as listed in newspaper advertisements that had been put out prior to his appointment, the delegation pointed out to the CM.

They said that when an application was filed under the Right to Information Act, seeking details and copies of Gupta’s educational qualifications and his PhD research, no documents were given to the applicants. The syndicate members also informed the CM that there have been complaints of irregularities against Gupta during his earlier tenure with the Public Works Department too, and that he had taken unauthorised leave for a period of five years and gone abroad during his PWD tenure.