Row at Dyal Singh College: Teachers'' union wants GB chairman removed

Ananya Panda
Tribune News Service
New Delhi, September 26

The Dyal Singh College Teachers’ Association (DSCTA) demanded immediate dismissal of chairman of Dyal Singh College’s governing body on Wednesday amid a standoff between the college’s governing body chairman and its principal.

Amitabh Sinha, the college’s governing body chairman and a Bharatiya Janata Party leader who had previously lobbied to have the college renamed 'Vande Mataram College', has been accused of interfering with the college’s administrative affairs. Jumping into the controversy wagon, the teacher’s association has demanded Sinha’s dismissal for his “repeated undue interference” in the college administration and his “illegal and irrational closure” of the college on Monday.

After a meeting held on Wednesday over the ongoing tussle between Sinha and college principal Inderjeet Singh Bakshi , the DSCTA unanimously condemned Sinha for cancelling classes for holding a meeting of the “truncated GB”, and demanded that “criminal proceedings” against him for alleged manhandling of some students and a faculty member. 

“A resolution was passed unanimously seeking the intervention of DUTA that condemned the dictatorial attitude of the GB chairman and shutting down the college. The GB meeting cannot and has never resulted in suspension of regular work in a college besides the said meeting itself being procedurally incorrect as neither the meeting had a proper agenda nor it had presence of the required number of members,” DSCTA president PK Parihar told The Tribune. 

The latest row erupted over a governing council meeting that Sinha, a Supreme Court lawyer and an executive committee member of the BJP, held to reverse the college election committee’s September 18 suspension of the new college students' union president, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad’s Rohan Awana. The governing body also issued a notice to principal Bakshi accusing him of financial and administrative irregularities and asking him to go sick leave until the allegations against him were investigated.

‘Mala fide’

A defiant Bakshi denied any wrongdoing claiming the allegations were “false and with mala fide intentions”, and wrote to Delhi University Vice-Chancellor Yogesh Tyagi asking him to intervene. He continues to attend college, although an inquiry against him is still pending.

The college’s election committee cancelled Rohan Awana’s election for violations of model code of conduct on September 18. On Monday, the college’s general body cancelled classes and held a meeting amid unusually tight security in the college to prevent students and teachers from entering the campus. 

Cancelling the election committee’s order, the general body held that the issue was “sensitive and would be judiciously handled” in its next meeting.

ABVP is the student arm of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, BJP’s ideological mentor.

Bakshi told The Tribune: “On Thursday evening, I was told about the GB chairman’s decision to suspend all administrative work and classes in the college on September 24, but I refused to do so because the meeting was to be held only for a few hours.  On Sunday afternoon I received an email from the chairman, but there was no mention of the allegations”.

“Within 20 hours, charges of insubordination (mentioned in his email dated September 23) were converted into financial irregularities because I refused to toe the line,” he added.

In his reply to Sinha, Bakshi accused him of “cooking up charges against him overnight”.

“The GB meeting that you referred to is infructous against University Ordinance as the requisite number of members nominated by the university Executive Council are not in place. I therefore cannot accept your illegal orders. You better refer to the Univ Ord (sic) laying down the process for action against the principal. Your order (sic)... against me for all rightful concerns that I raised against your conduct of flouting Univ norms, interfering in day-to-day functioning of college, intolerance (sic)...Under which authority/ rules have you issued such order (sic)? The charges levelled by you are baseless and not supported by any evidence,” he said, accusing Sinha of “misbehaviour” since he became chairman, as well as “ridiculing and bypassing the principal’s office”.

“I have kept the DU VC apprised about all the developments starting from the bifurcation of the college, renaming to the latest and would wait for the administration’s intervention,” Bakshi wrote, adding that his actions caused “irreparable damage” to his reputation and that he could consider legal action.

Sinha has not responded to The Tribune’s calls or text messages. 

The institution previously made news in May when there was a proposition to have the college's name changed to 'Vande Mataram College'.