The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) on Thursday finally gave the nod to the HRD Ministry to appoint Prof Partha Pratim Chakrabarti as director of IIT-Kharagpur. Top government sources said the CVC gave the professor a virtual clean chit in the Coalnet scam. Keeping in mind the minor penalty recommended against him,the CVC also asked the ministry to advise the professor to be more careful in future. Sources said the ministry will follow the CVC advice and formally appoint him as IIT-Kharagpur director. The CVC nod came amid nationwide protests by faculty,alumni and students of the institute. They had also threatened to move court if there was any delay in the appointment process. Chakrabartis elevation comes just ahead of the IIT-Kharagpur convocation scheduled for July 27,to be presided over by HRD Minister M M Pallam Raju. Though an HRD Ministry panel had suggested his name in July 2012,Chakrabartis appointment ran into trouble over his alleged role in the Coalnet scam that involved computerisation of Coal India and its subsidiaries between 2001 and 2004. Since May 2013,the issue has been pending before the CVC. Meanwhile,IIT-Kharagpur is likely to send memos to IIT-Patna director Prof A N Bhowmick and Prof R N Banerjee,seeking their reply to charges against them in the scam. Sources said the institute will also set up a departmental inquiry committee. The CVC had earlier sought action against Bhowmick,Chakrabarti and Banerjee based on CBI recommendations. However,the CBI had recommended a minor penalty against Chakrabarti on the basis of his response to a query posed by Coal India in 2004. The HRD Ministry has argued that this was more a result of a bona fide mistake. A section of people,however,believe that Chakrabartis letter was misleading and amounted to protecting the interests of his other colleagues. The Pallam Raju-led ministry has backed Chakrabarti,disagreeing with the minor penalty clause that calls for a censure or holding back one increment. It pointed out that it was Bhowmick and Banerjee who entered into the contract to outsource Coalnet computerisation and Chakrabarti neither had a role in this process nor was he a beneficiary. IIT-Kharagpur too backed Chakrabarti. The Board of Governors twice gave clean chit to him. The ministry had on May 7 submitted its report to CVC,favouring his appointment.
