Inquiry committee unearths gross irregularities in appointment of professors in University of Madras

An inquiry committee has found gross irregularities in the process of making appointments to the post of professor in different departments of the University of Madras (UoM) in 2014-15. The committee’s report, which was placed before the Syndicate on Monday (August 18, 2025), unearthed several discrepancies, including violation of eligibility criteria and University Grants Commission (UGC) norms for the recruitment of professors.

The Syndicate has resolved to send show-cause notices to the persons concerned under Section 17(b) of the Tamil Nadu Civil Services (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, sources in the University said.

On June 1, 2014, the University advertised for 22 posts of professors in different departments, which appeared in an English newspaper circulated in the State, a local language daily, and a political party’s news outlet. The report held that as per the procedures followed, the advertisement should have appeared in national newspapers.

Going into further details, the report stated that barring three candidates, none of the other applications were scrutinised by the Internal Quality Assurance Cell (IQAC), a body mandated by UGC/NAAC guidelines to maintain documents and develop Academic Performance Indicator (API) criteria for the recruitment of teachers. The inquiry committee, which was constituted following a court direction in August 2024, had appointed Elangovan Vellaichamy, Controller of Examinations (in-charge), as the nodal officer to take control of all documents pertaining to the recruitment process and prepare a confidential report based on the assessments as per UGC norms.

“It is found and as stated by the Nodal Officer, as per the data provided by the D1 Establishment section, only three applications relating to Dr. S. Manivasakan of the Centre for South and South East Asian Studies, Dr. P.D. Balaji of Ancient History and Archaeology, and Dr. V. Chandrasekar of Department of Education were verified by the IQAC and other applications were not verified,” the report, which has been accessed by The Hindu, read.

Discrepancies

Citing specific cases, the report stated that S.S. Sundaram had applied for the position of associate professor and his application was submitted at least six months after the last date for submission. He was appointed as professor in the Department of History.

Similarly, the committee found no evidence to show that V. Bhuvarahamurthy, appointed as professor in the Department of Medical Biochemistry, had any prior teaching experience. With regard to S. Sumathy, appointed as professor in the Department of Anthropology, the Nodal Officer could find no application or particulars about her PhD, publications, and teaching applications in the university documents.

Dr. S. Manivasakan, appointed as professor in Centre for South and South East Asian Studies, secured 54.1% in his post graduate degree in Defence Studies, while the minimum qualification marks is 55%, the report pointed out. S. Saravanan, appointed as professor in the Department of Saiva Siddhantha, did not have the required services as associate professor and his application was not scrutinised by the IQAC, the report added.

Many of the 16 professors appointed during this process have since retired from service. In 2019, Syed Rahamathullah, a retired professor of the Department of Hindi, filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court seeking direction to constitute a committee to probe the irregularities in the appointment of professors. In August last year, the court ruled in his favour following which, a committee was constituted with Sarit Kumar Das, professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Madras, as convenor, and S. Gowri, former Vice-Chancellor, UoM, and Justice P. Jyothimani, retired Madras High Court judge, as members. The committee submitted its report on May 14, 2025.