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The appointment of Pramod Pandey, former professor of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi, as the vice-chancellor (VC) of the Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute (Deemed to be a university) is allegedly not mentioned in the roster submitted by the college administration.

This was submitted in a report by the directorate of higher education (DHE). It also said the state government’s approval and no-objection certificate (NOC) were not sought for the appointment.

RTI activist Abhishek Haridas had complained that the Deccan College’s VC’s post was not created as per the University Grant Commission’s (UGC) Rule 2000 Appointment of Vice-Chancellor. Dhanraj Mane, state director, higher education, ordered an inquiry after a complaint was filed on March 3. Pandey was appointed VC on July 5, 2021 and, later, his pay fixation proposal was sent to the DHE for approval. The inquiry report said only the director’s post is mentioned in the roster submitted by the college administration and the VC’s post is not.

Now, students have questioned under what authority the VC signed certificates and other documents. They also want to know why the DHE submitted the report after six months of the inquiry.

Haridas said, “The DHE inquiry report states Pandey’s appointment is illegal. It violates the UGC rules and regulations.The DHE, they took six months in order to save Pandey. The inquiry report was published after we threatened to launch an agitation.”

Kiran Bondar, joint director, higher education, said, “We have mentioned all facts and observations in the report. We have tabled the inquiry report before the director of higher education.” Pandey and Mane were not available for comment.