A central university in Maharashtra cancelled a crucial meeting of its executive council (EC) on Thursday, plunging the PhD admission process into uncertainty and triggering speculation about interference from the education ministry to shield a former faculty member and a suspended registrar mired in allegations of irregularity from adverse action.

The EC at the Mahatma Gandhi Antarrashtriya Hindi Vishwa Vidyalaya (MGAHV) was supposed to take a decision on resuming PhD admission, which has been put on hold over allegations of irregularities in the conduct of the entrance test.

The university had set up an inquiry committee under former judge of Bombay High Court Justice M.N. Gilani, which found no evidence of irregularity. The EC would have discussed the committee report and was expected to have given a go-ahead for PhD admission in its meeting.

Three MGAHV faculty members said that the education ministry had put pressure on the university to cancel the EC meeting to prevent a discussion on or action against a former faculty member and a suspended registrar.

They said a complaint had been received about the irregularity in the appointment of Piyush Pratap Singh as an assistant professor at the MGAHV in 2007. Singh is currently a member of the EC as the nominee of the Visitor, the President of India. He is also a faculty member at the School of Computer and System Sciences at JNU since 2020.

Nikhil Chauhan, a resident of Madhya Pradesh, had filed a complaint with Visitor Droupadi Murmu alleging that Singh was not eligible for the post of lecturer because he had neither cleared the National Eligibility Test nor had a PhD degree as mandated by the UGC at that time.

“The education ministry had picked Singh as the Visitor’s nominee. The ministry wants to shield Singh from any discussion on the allegations. We feel that the ministry has pressured the university to cancel the EC meeting,” said a senior faculty member of the MGAHV.

Singh defended his appointment by saying the NET was not mandatory in 2007 under the rules of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE), a factor that might have worked in his favour.

The EC was also supposed to decide on the action against suspended registrar Dharvesh Kathariya in a case of violation of financial norms.

An email was sent to the department of higher education for its comment on the allegation of interference in the affairs of the MGAHV. Its response is awaited.