President Pranab sacks Visva Bharati Vice Chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta

New Delhi: President Pranab Mukherjee dismissed Visva Bharati Vice Chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta, who is facing allegations of financial and administrative irregularities.

The President gave his nod for the removal of Dattagupta after the HRD Ministry sent back the file recommending dismissal of Visva Bharati VVto Pranab Mukherjee after the Law Ministry and Attorney General backed its view in the matter.

The President's office had in November last year sent back the file pertaining to Dattagupta asking whether denying the VC a "hearing in person" on allegations levelled against him was legally tenable, it is learnt.

Charges against Duttagupta include drawing salary from Visva Bharati and pension from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) simultaneously in alleged violation of the law. Under the law, he was required to have got his pension amount deducted from the pay he received from Visva Bharati.

Besides this, Duttagupta was charged with making irregular appointments, including that of the Controller of Examinations despite having no powers, and sanctioning key posts in violation of the Visva Bharati Act.

Dattagupta, who was appointed in 2011, has over one year of his tenure left. He had also challenged the legality of the ministry's fact-finding committee but his petition was dismissed by the Calcutta High Court.