Hoshiarpur: PU probe panel recommends criminal action against Khalsa College principal

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Randhawa has also been found guilty of obtaining affiliation for the M.Sc (Industrial Chemistry) course from PU in alleged violation of the guidelines. According to the report, the college had not made appointment of any staff members despite UGC norms stating that a minimum of one professor, one reader and two lecturers be appointed before affiliation was granted for the course. The three-member Inquiry Committee, headed by a retired judge, has also requested PU Vice-Chancellor to cancel the provisional affiliation extended to the M.Sc (Industrial Chemistry) course of SGGS Khalsa College, Hoshiarpur.

It has also been suggested that a complaint letter be sent to the Delhi Police against Randhawa for cheating and misappropriating government funds on the basis of fake/fabricated documents. The committee has also stated that the Governing Council of the college must refund the entire grant released by UGC for starting the M.Sc (Industrial Chemistry) course. Refuting the allegations leveled against him, Randhawa, who is also a member of the PU Syndicate, said, “I am being wrongly framed for having committed misappropriation, when there is no substantial proof to clarify that the documents I submitted were fake. All this is being blown out of proportion by PU Vice-Chancellor Professor Arun Kumar Grover who has a personal grudge and is being revengeful.”

“When this issue was brought up before the PU Syndicate in October 2015, the issue was turned down by the house and I was exonerated of the charges. Even when the inquiry report was turned down, the PU VC selectively forwarded certain documents to the UGC in this regard,” Randhawa added.

The inquiry committee, after examining the records of the college, has also concluded that the selection and appointment of Randhawa as principal of SGGS Khalsa College was not approved by Panjab University but he continued in the post on the strength of a stay order granted by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.

An analysis of the inquiry report indicates that Randhawa in connivance with officials of PU, fabricated a bogus proposal and got it authenticated with the sole intention to misappropriate government funds. The university has claimed that the involvement of university officials in this matter is unfounded. A PU spokesperson stated, “Once it came to light that the document submitted were possibly fake, an inquiry was initiated into the matter.”

The report of the Inquiry Committee has not been provided to the UGC so far, as a finalised course of action will be recommended after the matter is placed before the PU Syndicate on May 1.