3 July 2024: In a surprising turn of events, the Vice-Chancellor (VC) of the state-aided Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology (MAKAUT), Haringhata, West Bengal barred the registrar from attending office on Monday. The VC argued that the Registrar had reached the retirement age of 60.
This decision came despite a communication from the higher education department on June 24, indicating that the retirement age for the Registrar had been increased to 62, as per a government order issued in August 2018. The department’s directive was based on legal advice regarding the retirement age of Registrar Parthapratim Lahiri.
VC Tapas Chakrabarti dismissed the legal opinion and, on June 26, requested the department to provide the official government order confirming the raised retirement age. In the interim, he appointed Professor Indranil Mukherjee as the acting registrar and issued a release order to Lahiri.
Since the department’s official order did not arrive during office hours on Monday, the VC did not allow Lahiri to enter his office. Chakrabarti, who was appointed as VC last year by the Governor without consultation with the department, stated, “The legal opinion, to me, was inconclusive. I received the order on Monday evening, and he has since been reinstated.”
