DU's Pro-V-C removed, reinstated as administrative feud comes out in the open

New delhi: In what has now come out as an open feud within the Delhi University administration, the varsity's Pro-Vice-Chancellor PC Joshi was on Thursday first removed from his position before being reinstated by the Education Ministry in a late-night communique. This comes a day after Joshi had cleared the appointment of a new Registrar even as vice-chancellor Yogesh Tyagi had appointed another person for the job.

Geeta Bhatt, a member of right-wing teachers' group National Teachers' Democratic Front (NDTF) had initially replaced Joshi on Thursday for hours. She's also a leading member of the Group of Intellectuals and Academics (GIA), which said the Delhi riots were a "conspiracy of Jihadis and Urban Naxals".

Soon after her appointment, Bhatt took out an order saying that Joshi is "without any jurisdiction and lawful authority".

However, the Education Ministry reversed the order, saying Joshi will "act as a vice-chancellor and all the orders to be issued under the statutes with the approval of Vice-Chancellor should be issued with the approval of Pro-Vice-Chancellor PC Joshi".

It also said that as Tyagi is "absent" on medical grounds, orders issued by him are not "officially valid and should not be acted upon by the university functionary. In future, if the Vice-Chancellor wants to join the office, proper medical fitness certificate be issued by the competent authority," the letter signed by Education Ministry Deputy Secretary Birendra Kumar Singh said.

The chaos at the university began when the joint registrar's office issued a notification naming PC Jha as the director of the university's south campus and as interim registrar from October 21. "He has been appointed as Director South Campus in place of Prof Suman Kundu… with immediate effect till further orders. He will also act as Registrar, University of Delhi, as an interim arrangement, with immediate effect till further orders," the notification had said.

According to university sources, the fight is between two factions, one backed by the Vice-Chancellor, who backed Jha, while Joshi, on the same day of Jha'a appointment sent him a letter of "illegally occupying the office".

"In case you are not vacating the office immediately, you will be forcibly moved out of office and action initiated against you," Joshi had said in the letter to Jha.

Meanwhile, professors and officials at the university have called the fiasco disturbing and a humiliation for the university. "Reputation of the university is built over decades and it can be lost within no time. Only one side can be right, but here both sides are issuing letters showing a situation of lawlessness and a shift of focus in the institution. Those who are in power did not care about the reputation of the university, especially during admissions time," DU Teachers' Association's Abha Dev Habib told Millennium Post.

Vice-Chancellor Tyagi, who is also on medical leave at the moment, did not respond to messages and calls.