Finally, the office of the Chancellor of Universities of Odisha has asked Sambalpur University VC Prof Sanjiv Mittal to furnish relevant information on allegations of giving false information while applying for the post in 2020.
It was alleged by Durga Prasad Padhi, a senior advocate and former syndicate member of the university; and two other eminent citizens, Susant Kumar Swain and Arun Kumar. They also sent a complaint with proof of documents to Chancellor and Governor Prof Ganeshi Lal seeking an inquiry and appropriate action against Mittal including his dismissal from the post. The allegations include Prof Mittal in his application claimed 25 publications in SCOPUS/SCI indexed journals. But the fact is that he has only 14 publications in SCOPUS. Further, out of his claim of 25 publications, nine are neither SCOPUS nor in the Web of Science (WoS). Prof Mittal has also shown all these 25 papers to be authored by him single handedly, which is totally false. Prof Mittal further mentioned that he had eight books of publication to his credit. But he neither submitted these books to the Higher Education department nor to the Search Committee for verification and record which is nothing but suppression of facts, the complainants said.
They further requested the Chancellor to ask the VC of SU to go on leave and face inquiry.However, after getting the letter from these persons, the chancellor office has asked the VC to furnish his comments on the issue.