3 years on, no headway in plaint against teachers' federation chief

More than three years after a complaint of bigamy and getting appointed on the basis of an invalid degree was lodged against Dr Vikas Siwach, president of the Haryana Federation of University and College Teachers Organisations (HFUCTO) and Maharshi Dayanand University Teachers Association (MDUTA), there is no headway regarding the matter.

On September 2, the MDU administration issued a memorandum to Siwach, an associate professor at the University Institute of Engineering and Technology (UIET), granting him "one last final opportunity to make his position clear".

The memorandum states that on May 16, 2022, Director (Higher Education), Panchkula, forwarded a complaint lodged against Siwach by Dr Sandeep Kumar Gupta of Hisar, who alleged that Siwach's initial appointment to the post of lecturer in computer science was illegal for want of valid educational qualification and that he had entered into a second marriage in violation of the Hindu Marriage Act.

"While forwarding the complaint to MDU, the Higher Education Director had desired this university to conduct an inquiry on each and every aspect of the allegations and take appropriate action and to apprise them with the same by way of an action-taken report," states the university's communique.

It points out that the complaint has also been forwarded by the Additional Director-General of the Intelligence Department vide letter dated January 30, 2025, for appropriate action.

"This university has been in correspondence since March 11, 2022 with Siwach to make his position clear regarding the specific allegations. Records reveal that six reminders have since been issued to Siwach to expedite his defence, if any...But regrettably, Siwach has so far chosen to remain mum and has continuously been ignoring to respond to the official letters to him in this regard," maintains the memorandum.

The MDU administration has given a time of seven days to Siwach to submit his response regarding the matter. "If no reply is received within the stipulated time, it would be presumed that Siwach has nothing to say and action as deemed fit would be taken in the matter without any further reference to him," warns the memorandum.

Contacted for his comments, Siwach stated that he had not received any such memorandum from the university administration. "I have submitted my replies to the university authorities on all earlier occasions and will reply as and when I receive any fresh memorandum," he maintained.