Delhi University's outgoing Vice Chancellor Dinesh Singh refuted the allegation of conflict of interest in appointment of K Kasturirangan into the panel for selecting his successor which has irked the HRD ministry that even issued a show-cause notice to a DU V-C for the first time.
Singh, who retires on October 28, asserted that he has "no regrets" though his tenure saw the massive controversy over Four Year Undergraduate Programme.
The latest controversy is on nomination of former ISRO Chief K Kasturirangan to the selection panel by DU despite him being an honorary professor at the university.
The HRD ministry is understood to have asked the President who is the varsity Visitor to direct Singh to proceed on compulsory leave but had to withdraw the request considerably because Rasthrapati Bhavan was not inclined towards taking an action against the V-C who has only few weeks left in office.
The Ministry is also learned to have asked DU to suggest another name replacing Kasturirangan. "The nomination of the members was discussed at length in the DU's Executive Council. Somehow it (conflict of interest) seems to have escaped the attention of the Council and I don't really know until I hear from the Ministry what the exact issue is," he said.
"I don't know if something has been communicated to the university so far, if they do it we will do the needful immediately. I will have to get in touch with the government to take further steps regarding the same," he added while he himself chairs the EC meeting.
A well known mathematics professor, whose father also served as V-C of Allahabad University, Singh said he has no inclination of taking any extension and will not accept it even if offered.
"On 28th I demit office and I will be a free man then. I will have all the weight off my shoulders.... I am not going to stay a day or for that matter an hour beyond my tenure. If a VC is not appointed till the time I retire, I will not be holding the charge even for time being. The university statutes have a provision that in absence of VC, the pro Vice Chancellor takes the charge. So he will assume the position if need be but not me," he said.
While the allegations of conflict of interest in appointment of UGC Chairman Ved Prakash by the Ministry as the head of the same panel have also been raised by various quarters, Singh has refused to comment on it.