By Kuldeep Tiwari | Oct 15, 2014, 02.00 AM IST
A faculty member who had been with CEPT University for 12 years was suspended without warning, sending shockwaves through the campus. Assistant Professor Ajay Katuri in Faculty of Planning was asked to vacate his office with immediate effect. Students and teachers were stunned on hearing the news as it is probably for the first time in the institute's history that a faculty member was suspended. Insiders point fingers at Acting Director Bimal Patel for the move as Katuri is known to be close to former Faculty of Planning dean Utpal Sharma, who resigned in April "following his disappointment with the autocratic system that came into force after Patel took charge”.
SUSPENSION LETTER
The suspension letter claims Katuri lacks integrity, and shows disrespect and insubordination towards authority. The letter also mentions that the professor did not respond to the allegations made in a show cause notice issued to him on September 16, 2014. "The letter stated that if the professor wanted the suspension to be reconsidered, he had to file an application in 15 days. Interestingly, the suspension letter, signed by Patel, is dated October 11 but it was issued to Prof Katuri on October 14," said sources. The letter also stated that a departmental inquiry will be ordered against Katuri.
SHOW CAUSE NOTICE
The issues in the show cause notice mentioned in the suspension letter was resolved, claimed Prof Katuri. The notice signed by the director on September 11, 2014 accuses the professor of taking 182 days leave from January 1, 2009. It claimed that the professor had falsely claimed he needed the leave to complete his PhD but had submitted no documents to prove he completed the course. So, the varsity demanded that he pay back Rs 2,27,260 which the institute had paid him as salary for this period. It also accused him of misusing his authority and harassing a female student.
The third allegation was regarding unauthorised absenteeism. Reacting to the allegations, Prof Katuri told Mirror, "The director and his cronies are manipulating facts. The then CEPT director RN Vakil had issued a letter regarding the PhD leave, but I had proved to him that I was eligible for the leave and the grant. I was cleared of the alleged harassment issue. Also, I had submitted medical certificates for the days I remained absent. But, Patel is raking up old issues to target me. He wants to show he can harass anyone who does not follow him blindly."