Dr Dulcha Singh Brar, who is facing charges of sexual harassment, has been sent a chargesheet by the Punjab Agricultural University. Moving a step further in the case, Dr Manjit Singh Kang, Vice-Chancellor, PAU, said, “Dr Brar now gets 30 days to reply to the chargesheet after which a one-person commission will go through the reply furnished by him.” Putting aside the speculation on any fresh probe into the issue, Dr Kang added, “This is not a fresh probe. The chargesheet that has been sent to Dr Brar has been prepared on the findings of the fact-finding committee. The one-person commission is basically a progression of the procedure. The commission will also prepare a report and the final decision on the issue rests with the V-C.”The development comes after the V-C took the report prepared by the fact-finding committee to the Board of Management (BoM). While the BoM ordered that the suspension of Dr Brar be revoked, Dr Brar was, however, not allowed to join the university in the capacity of DSW and instead has been asked to join his parent department — Entomology.When asked whether the one-person commission would comprise an IAS officer as informed by a member of the Board yesterday, the V-C said, “It is not necessary. The person could be from within the university or even from the outside. We still have to select a person.” Talking about the meeting of BoM held yesterday, which it has been learnt was a stormy one, Dr Kang said, “Every person needs to be treated as an individual and that is what we did. Some members did point out that they came to know about the case from the media but then apart from me and a few members in PAU, no one knows the minute details of the case.” The probe into the case has not been a smooth on two accounts. Firstly, with Dr Brar choosing not to join the probe after meeting the committee. Secondly, just when the committee was ready to submit its findings, the NGO member in the board refused to sign the report and resigned. The committee, however, went ahead and submitted the report to the V-C.The PAU Teachers’ Association spearheaded a campaign on the issue demanding that no action should be taken against Dr Brar on the basis of the committee’s report and sought the quashing of the committee.
