Syndicate okays penalising staffer held guilty in PU heritage furniture theft case

Chandigarh, April 23

The PU Syndicate today approved demoting and imposing a major penalty on a university employee, who was found guilty of sneaking out a heritage furniture table designed by Pierre Jeanneret and Le Corbusier from the campus sans permission.

“The Syndicate approved the enquiry report dated February 22 submitted by former District and Sessions Judge Jagroop Singh Mahal against Niraj Kumar, a senior assistant at PU Boys’ Hostel No. 5. The report opined that Kumar violated Rule1.1 of the rules governing the conduct of university employees and is guilty of serious misconduct. A major penalty will be imposed on him and he will be demoted,” stated a PU spokesperson in a press release.

The case dates back to May 2019 when Kumar was posted as the officer incharge of the hostel. A security guard had caught a rickshaw-puller taking the heritage furniture from the hostel out of the campus without permission. The rickshaw-puller told the guard that Kumar had told him to take the table to a carpenter in Maloya. Later, Kumar claimed that the table was being sent for repair. He kept on changing his statement and even claimed that the table was being sent to the women’s hostel.

Heated exchange among members halts meeting

The meeting was adjourned for over 15 minutes after some members supported the ‘theft’ accused and termed it as just an ‘incident’. “During this argument, a member stood up and started shouting at other members who were demanding strict action against the accused. The member even threatened the other members. After this, the Vice-Chancellor left and the meeting was adjourned,” said a Syndicate member.

Dr Parveen Goyal, also a Syndicate member, said the university did not take action against various persons guilty of indulging in wrong practices on the PU campus. “A tough call should be taken against all accused. Scams emerged in the late 90s are yet to see justice. A ‘thief’ should be given tough punishment, so that it acts as a deterrent for others,” said Goyal.

Other approvals

• Minutes of a meeting of the admission facilitation committee with regard to various admission-related cases
• Assignment of faculties to Prof Rumina Sethi, Dean, University Instructions
• Appointment of Lt Gen KJ Singh as Honorary Professor in Department of Defence & National Security Studies
• Minutes of a meeting of the affiliation committee with regard to grant of temporary extension of affiliation in the course(s)/subject(s) to Punjab colleges for session 2022-2023
• Regulation committee’s recommendation regarding the framework for admission to BA, BSc, BCom (Honors) school under NEP 2020.

Inquiry findings

• Niraj Kumar, a senior assistant at PU Boys’ Hostel No. 5, removed the table without getting a gate pass or written permission of the Warden.
• The employee didn’t make any entry in the register
• He violated Rule 1.1 of the rules governing conduct of the Panjab University employees