The
Indian Express: Mumbai: Sunday, September 15, 2019.
Despite
receiving a donation for conducting a lecture series in memory of former chief
justice of Bombay High Court MC Chagla, the University of Mumbai (MU) did not
conduct any in the first few years, data obtained under Right to Information
has revealed.
In
2009, the university received a one-time donation of Rs 1 crore after it signed
a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Chief Justice MC Chagla Memorial
Trust. Information received under RTI, filed by the president of Student Law
Council advocate Sachin Pawar, revealed that no lectures under the series were
conducted between 2010-11 and 2014-15. The first lecture under the series, it
found, was conducted only in 2015-16. The Indian Express has a copy of the RTI
documents.
As
per the RTI data, in the last three years, the university has spent Rs 12.53
lakh for the lecture series, of which only Rs 1.49 lakh was spent on the lectures
itself. The remaining amount, nearly Rs 12 lakh, was spent on setting up a
Justice MC Chagla Chair in Human Rights and Civic Liberties.
Pawar
claimed that Rs 12 lakh was paid to the chair professor, in addition to the
stipulated monthly salary by the university. “We demand to know what work has
been done by the chair professor to be paid an amount to this tune since the
only work is to host lectures. We understand that lecturers coming from outside
are to be paid, but why was this much money paid to the chair professor?” he
said.
He
called it “gross misuse of money” and demanded strict action against the
persons involved.
An
MU source said the functions of a chair professor was the same as a professor.
“Apart from organising lectures, chair professors also guide PhD students, do
research and other activities. May be the amount shown as salary is the
honorarium paid to the chair professor,” the source said.
Funds
for the lecture series are sanctioned by the university vice-chancellor after
receiving a letter from the department of law.
Despite
repeated attempts, chair professor Dr Rashmi Oza, could not be reached for
comments.
MU
spokesperson Leeladhar Bansod, meanwhile, said, “An advertisement was released
for the position of an in-charge professor, but no one was selected. Since
there was no in-charge professor for conducting the lecture series, nothing was
done. Once the professor was appointed in 2015, the memorial lectures were
organised.”
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