Punjabi varsity sacks employee over FIR

Patiala, September 27

Punjabi University has dismissed a clerk for irresponsible behaviour towards duty, violation of rules, and tarnishing of the university’s image due to the registration of an FIR against her. The dismissal orders were discussed and passed during a syndicate meeting held on Tuesday. The dismissed clerk, Nancy Ghumman, said the police case registered against her in March last year was sub judice. “The case is still going on. My dismissal from service at the university is wrong. They did not give me an opportunity to defend myself.”

As a matter of fact, the employee had sought child-care leave in March last year, but the same was rejected. The university, in the dismissal orders, said it had communicated to her that she was supposed to report to her job, but she failed. The order also said that a police case in relation to a TV channel’s beauty pageant had been registered against her in March 2022, which had tarnished the university’s image.

According to the dismissal orders, the university sent her a show-cause notice for failure to join duty and suspended her for registration of the FIR. It then issued a charge sheet and started an inquiry into the whole matter. It said the inquiry officer gave her two chances to present her defence and submitted the final report in April. Later, she raised various objections when the inquiry reached the office of the Vice Chancellor. Vice Chancellor Arvind said the case of the FIR was still sub judice and that he couldn’t comment on it. He added, “All due process was followed in our inquiry.”