A division bench headed by Justice Subrata Talukdar of Calcutta High Court on Monday upheld the order passed by Justice Kausik Chanda of the same court who fined Visva-Bharati authorities Rs 1 lakh for chargesheeting a varsity professor for sanctioning child care leave to a female colleague.

A lawyer not connected with the case said that after the order, varsity authorities, led by vice-chancellor Bidyut Chakrabarty, will have to pay the fine or move an appeal before the Supreme Court against the high court order.

Monday’s order drew loud cheers on the campus.“There are over a hundred cases pending in different courts that either Visva-Bharati filed or the employees and students moved to get protection from the vengeful activities of the VC. The hostels on the campus are dilapidated and both academic and physical infrastructure are in shambles. If the VC used the money spent on legal battles for student welfare or campus upkeep, the varsity’s overall atmosphere can change, but the problem is that authorities are not interested,” said Minakshi Bhattacharyya, TMC Punit president in Visva-Bharati.

The order that the division bench upheld on Monday states that the action taken by the varsity was vindictive.“Such a vindictive attitude of the University cannot be approved by this court and should be deprecated by awarding appropriate costs. Accordingly, the University is directed to pay a cost of Rs 1,00,000 (one lakh) to the petitioner within a period of thirty days from the date of communication of this order,” the order dated December 21 last year reads.

Sources said Debotosh Sinha, a social-work professor in Visva-Bharati was acting as the head of the department for a day on November 2, 2021. An assistant professor of the department who is the mother of twins applied for childcare leave (CCL) to Sinha, who recommended the leave and sent it for approval of the competent authority.

The deputy registrar of the varsity’s establishment department on November 29, 2021, sanctioned the leave. Exactly a year after the leave was sanctioned, on November 29 last year, the varsity authorities showcased Sinhaas they found his act prejudicial to the interest of the varsity and termed it misconduct on his part.

The professor moved Calcutta High Court after the charge was framed for departmental proceedings against him.“There was no misconduct on the part of my client. He had recommended the leave application for sanction of a lady assistant professor, who gave birth to twins. The recommendation does not mean sanction of leave. The higher authority had sanctioned the leave,” said Subir Sanyal, the lawyer who appeared for Sinha.

The lawyer also said that one year after the incident his client was forced by the authorities to write a letter saying that he had committed a mistake by recommending the leave application and on the basis of that the university showcaused him.

It is not yet clear if the VC will ask his office to move the Supreme Court against the division bench order. Visva-Bharati acting public relations officer Mahua Banerjee said that the top authorities of the varsity were yet to decide if they would move the apex court against the division bench’s order.