The absence of a working vice-chancellor at Jadavpur University has not only stalled administrative activities but has come in the way of awarding punishment to those who were found guilty of ragging a first-year student in the main hostel last August, said university officials.
The anti-ragging committee of JU had resolved in early December that five students be rusticated for four semesters and expelled from JU hostels permanently because an internal inquiry found them to be directly associated with the criminal conspiracy to “rag in the hostel”.
The first-year undergraduate student had allegedly been ragged and thrown off a second-floor balcony of the main hostel on the night of August 9. He died in hospital early next morning.
The committee said 25 students should be rusticated for one semester and expelled from JU hostels permanently on the ground of abetment to ragging on the night of August 9.
The dean of students said they were yet to communicate the decisions to those who have been found guilty as the VC is not attending the office and signing any files.
The university had in December uploaded on its website the names of 12 former and current students who are behind bars in connection with the ragging, announcing that they have been barred from entering any of its campuses “until they are duly discharged from the allegations” of ragging by the court.
An internal committee of the university found a section of students guilty of ragging the fresher.
After going through the report, the anti-ragging squad recommended penal measures that were accepted by the anti-ragging committee on December 5.
However, JU has not taken any further steps after this.
“The next step is to communicate the decision to these students who are not in custody. This step can be taken by the VC and the EC (the executive council). The VC can take the step subject to ratification by the EC. Since the VC is not attending the office, no such step can be taken,” said the dean of students, Rajat Roy.
The missing-in-action officiating VC, Buddhadeb Sau, said in a press release on Monday that he was not going to the office because of conflicting communications from the chancellor’s office and the state government.
The governor, the ex-officio chancellor of JU, had removed Sau from his position on December 23, but the higher education department asked him to continue.
The father of the deceased student said: “The anti-ragging committee decided on action against the offenders a week after I met education minister Bratya Basu.... The university has again gone quiet. We are upset.”
Sau told this newspaper: “How can I go to the office now? The contradictory orders from the chancellor’s office and the department have left me confused. Any decision on the punishment can be taken after placing the matter before the executive council.”
The registrar can convene a meeting of the executive council, but only after being directed by the VC, said a JU official.