The outgoing vice-chancellor of Delhi University, Dinesh Singh on Friday distanced himself from the controversy surrounding the formation of a fact-finding committee against St. Stephen's College professor and varsity teachers' association president Nandita Narain.
Delhi University had constituted a fact-finding committee to look into some complaints from DU colleges against Narain, who has been summoned to appear before it on October 19. With the timing of the call being close to that of the VC demitting office, Narain had alleged that it was a deliberate attempt on his part to trouble her before leaving.
Singh, whose term as VC ends on October 28, said, "I have no role to play in sending any summon to anyone. If the fact- finding committee has sent summon to someone, they must have found something against the person... The committee works on directives of the university, I have nothing to do with it." Meanwhile, Delhi University Teachers' Association (DUTA), of which Narain is president, today held an emergency meeting of the Executive Council to discuss the issue.
"DUTA has unanimously expressed strong condemnation of the outgoing VC's attack on the DUTA president for discharging her duties as the elected representative of the teaching community... It sees the attack on Narain as an attack on DUTA as an institution of the academic community," a statement from DUTA reads.
"The DUTA Executive has also resolved to write to the Visitor and the MHRD on the prevailing situation, demanding immediate intervention and reversal of the VC's action and an official reprimand to him," it added.
