CDLU teachers using students to sabotage colleagues, says CBI

CHANDIGARH: The investigation by the CBI into the affairs of Sirsa-based Chaudhary Devi Lal University has also revealed that students are being used by different groups of teachers to settle personal scores against each other.

According to the agency, the students are being used to carry out protests over issues like cancellation of interviews for teaching posts, which have no connection with the students.

“It has come to light during inquiry that conduct of some students of the university — Malka, Balrup, Renu, Avtar, Rohit Bura and Yunus Saleem Wani — regarding sitting on dharna, agitation, fabricating complaints, protest against specific group of professors and their promotions, seems to be motivated by another group of professors. The demand raised by this group of students for cancellation of interviews for the post of professors and associate professors scheduled to be held on February 20, 2015 has got no benefit in favour of the career of the students and same seems to be the result of provocation of these students by professors backing them. The purpose of this strike seems to be creation of hindrance in the process of promotion of other group of assistant professors,” observed the CBI in its report.

As many as 12 teachers in the department of law, public administration, commerce, energy and environment science, department of physical education, and economics have been named in the report as being openly in the support of the striking students and also sitting on strike with the students against the university on February 19, 2015.

The agency has also named two senior faculty members from the department of law and public administration for supporting and provoking striking students by delivering speeches in their support.

The inquiry has also revealed that how an FIR in 2013 against three members of teaching faculty, registered on complaint of female striking students, was found false and concocted, aimed at only spoiling the career of the faculty. The CBI also scrutinized the CCTV footage that revealed a concocted story prepared by these female students to trap three faculty members, the investigation found.

“All these matters, in respect of teaching staff and officials of CDLU Sirsa were not entrusted to the CBI for inquiry by the high court but during the probe these facts have precipitated for which competent authority must pass an order for necessary action,” the CBI report observed.

In April 2015, the Punjab and Haryana high court had ordered the CBI to probe the dispute between two groups of the teaching faculty of the university.

“The war is being waged between the teachers in the cloistered world of university. The repercussion of the same can be felt down in the present as well as in the future. The corridors of the university must be free from all this,” the high court had observed in its orders passed on April 8, 2015. The report was submitted by the CBI in December 2015 but it was made public on April 10 this year.