Bengal Governor C.V. Ananda Bose removed the Vice Chancellor of Gour Banga University for alleged dereliction of duty and corruption. As per sources in the Raj Bhawan, convocation at the university in Malda district of north Bengal was scheduled to take place on August 25 which Vice-Chancellor Pabitra Chattopadhyay failed to organise.
The directive from the West Bengal Governor, who is also the Chancellor of state-run universities, came days after the varsity’s Inspector of Colleges accused Vice-Chancellor Pabitra Chattopadhyay, a chemistry professor, of demanding money to cover legal expenses.
A source in Raj Bhavan said, “The authorisation granted to Professor Pabitra Chattopadhyay to exercise the powers and perform the duties of the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Gour Banga, by order of the Chancellor, is hereby annulled with immediate effect.”
It was learnt that the university’s Inspector of Colleges has filed cases at the Calcutta High Court over alleged irregularities, claiming that the interim VC demanded an amount of Rs 3 lakh to cover legal expenses.
The source further said, “Such an allegation is serious. We cannot have a person in the position of a VC who has been accused of asking for money. The step has been taken to keep the education system in West Bengal clean.”
The convocation at the Gour Banga University was scheduled to take place on August 25, but it was cancelled on instructions from the West Bengal Education Department.
According to media reports, Governor Bose who is the Chancellor took the stand that the government has no authority to interfere with the autonomy of universities and ordered that the convocation be held as scheduled. However, the Vice-Chancellor failed to comply with the direction and this led to his immediate removal by the Chancellor.
Governor Bose had appointed Chattopadhyay as the interim Vice-Chancellor of Gour Banga University after selecting him from the list of state nominees in April 2024.
The convocation at the state-run university has remained suspended since 2017, reportedly due to issues between the West Bengal government and the Governor’s office.
