Chennai: Tamilnadu government has initiated a probe against Anna University Vice Chancellor M K Surappa.
Sources said that a committee headed by retired Justice Kalaiarasan has been formed to carry out the probe. The committee has been directed to submit its report in three months.
Higher Education Principal Secretary Apoorva Singh reportedly said that the probe has been inititated after several complaints were received that Surappa was acting with hidden motives in issues such as arrears and special status for Anna University
It may be noted that Surappa recently received a āthreat letterā. The inland letter dated 21 October was written in English by a person going by the name, āVeerappanā. There was no senderās address.
A senior police official had said, “He got an inland letter from one Veerappa. The hand-written long letter claimed that Veerappanās team would shoot the VC. We found that the letter was dropped at a post box in Anna Nagar.”
The police had said they are not ruling out any suspects including the role of a political party. Police protection was given to Surappa at his office and residence on the campus following the incident.
The controversy was related to the University Grants Commission (UGC) of India offering to grant the Institute of Eminence (IoE) status to Anna University.
The series of events began after Surappa took the liberty of writing a letter to the Union government stating that the university has the capacity to generate around Rs 1,500 crore internally over five years and hence does not need the support of the government of Tamilnadu for funds, reports said.
Subsequently, the State government sought an explanation from him for his action and some sections demanded that he step down from the post.
Tamilnadu government also went on to write to the UGC refusing the Institute of Eminence status to Anna University.