A committee constituted to investigate the complaint that an assistant professor at Rabindra Bharati University was allegedly subjected to “casteist taunts” has yet to submit its report because a member has apparently withdrawn from the probe.

Paula Banerjee, a former vice-chancellor of the Sanskrit College and University, who was asked to chair the three-member probe committee, did not conduct the final hearing on September 18 as her tenure as VC ended on September 14.

When contacted, Banerjee declined to comment.

Vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Basu Raychaudhuri said: “I believe the university’s registrar has approached her and requested her to continue as chairperson. I expect the hearing would soon be completed.”

Sources said Banerjee withdrew herself from the committee on the ground that she had joined the inquiry in her capacity as VC. She cannot continue to be part of the panel since she is no longer VC, Banerjee is said to have told the Rabindra Bharati authorities.

The committee was supposed to submit its report on September 20.

The complainant, a geography teacher from a Scheduled Tribe, had lodged her complaint with the university authorities three days after she was allegedly harassed on May 23.

In late June, vice-chancellor Sabyasachi Basu Ray Chaudhuri had constituted a three-member committee to probe the allegation. Banerjee was appointed chairperson and the other two members were Tapas Mridha, a teacher at Jadavpur University, and Debajyoti Konar, registrar of Presidency University.

“As the chair of the committee did not complete the hearing, the report could not be submitted. The teachers’ council has already moved the National Commission for Scheduled Castes against the university for the delay,” a university official said.

Debabrata Das, the secretary of the teachers’ council of the university’s arts faculty, said the authorities had been repeatedly requested to expedite the probe so that the culprits could be punished at the earliest.

“The delay is inexplicable. Five months have lapsed since the start of the probe,” he said.

When contacted, the geography teacher declined to comment.