The officiating vice-chancellor of Jadavpur University visited his office on Wednesday but only to collect certain belongings.
Buddhadeb Sau did not sit on the chair designated for the VC. Neither did he sign any files.
During his hour-long stay in the office, registrar Snehamanju Basu sought to know from Sau whether he would sign any pending files.
He told her that he would not sign any file as officiating VC till the higher education department cleared the air on his position.
“I went to the VC’s office on Wednesday afternoon to collect certain belongings. The registrar wanted to know whether I would sign any documents,” Sau said.
“I told her I would not sign until there was clarity from the higher education department in response to a query she had sent last week about who on the campus had the authority to grant financial and administrative approval.”
The university had last Thursday written to the higher education department asking who had the authority because a section of officials and teachers had asked the registrar to clarify whether Sau was still discharging the responsibilities of VC.
On Wednesday, the JU teachers’ association again wrote to the registrar asking who had the authority to sign documents.
An order issued by the governor, in his capacity as chancellor of JU, on December 23 and another by the state government hours later are at the heart of the confusion.
While the chancellor ordered Sau’s removal as officiating VC hours before JU’s annual convocation, the department asked Sau to keep officiating as VC because no alternative was visible.
Parthapratim Roy, secretary of the JU teachers’ association, said: “If a person without appropriate authority occupies the chair of the VC, it will trigger legal complications.”
Manojit Mandal, a JU professor who is also a member of the university’s executive council as a representative of the higher education department, said: “I hope the department would again clarify that Sau is going to stay because the chancellor
cannot remove a VC when a legal battle is being fought between the chancellor and the state government over who has the authority to appoint a VC.”