“Let’s get this straight for the nth time. It’s time for you to understand that I am fully aware of the rules. Please also understand that obstruction on any matter all the time has its limits. Simply do the needful.”This is one of the many letters that the headmaster of Lawrence School Sanawar, Gautam Chatterjee, has shot off to Lt Col S.K. Nautiyal (retd) — the bursar he sacked — over the last few months.The bursar has moved the court in Himachal, seeking orders against his ‘‘illegal’’ dismissal, while the headmaster is in Delhi to attend the Board of Governors meeting on June 28. What began as a war of words between the two, now has snowballed into serious allegations of financial irregularities.The BoG had inducted Chatterjee as principal last year with much fanfare, but soon old Sanawarians began feeling the heat, as he accused them of undue interference in school affairs. His new set of rules was also a sore point, with one BoG member and old boy, Aman Bir Singh, asking him to clarify some “arbitrary” regulations.Now, while Chatterjee has accused Lt Col Nautiyal of committing various irregularities and has sent a formal complaint to the police, some of the BoG members are going to town with documents indicting the headmaster.According to a document in possession of The Indian Express, the headmaster created the post of ‘‘compliance officer’’, to accommodate his relative, Sanjay Mitra. He also allegedly extended the tenure of one of his favourites.Mitra’s CV shows his qualification as BA and ‘‘astronaut Kalpana Chawla’s classmate’’. There is no mention of any experience required for the post. A man identifying himself as Sanjay Mitra’s father in Gurgaon confirmed on the phone that he is related to the headmaster.Chatterjee, who was at Deputy Secretary Vivek Bhardwaj’s office in Delhi, said he would not talk to the media. Aradhna Adhikari, executive assistant to the headmaster, when approached, also said he has declined to comment. The Education Secretary and BoG chairman S.C. Tripathi said that comments relating to Sanawar should be sought from Vivek Bhardwaj. ‘‘We know the details. The controversy has been going on for about six-seven years now,’’ Bhardwaj said. Nautiyal refused to comment.
