Team Herald
PANJIM: The government has stepped in to take over the inquiry into the alleged paper leak scandal that has rocked Goa University, appointing a four-member, high-level committee to probe the case.
The committee is headed by Retd High Court Justice RMS Khandeparkar. The other members of the committee are Bosco George, IPS (Retd), Former DIG Government of Goa, Dr Radhika Nayak, Former Registrar of Goa University. MRK Prasad, Professor at V M Salgaocar Law College, will be the Member Secretary. The committee has been asked to submit its report at the earliest.
The controversy over the question paper leak broke last Sunday when a group of activists led by Kashinath Shetye submitted a complaint to Agassaim Police Station claiming that an Assistant Professor of Physics had leaked a question paper to a girl student, leading to protests and the suspension of the teacher.
Following this, the university had constituted a two-member fact-finding committee, which submitted its report to Governor and Chancellor P S Sreedharan Pillai and Vice-Chancellor Harilal B Menon on Wednesday. The committee, set up on Monday, had been directed to submit the report within 48 hours.
The university has denied any charges of wrongdoing, claiming that no complaint with regard to any paper leak had been made.
The teacher’s name first got embroiled in a controversy in September 2024, when he was alleged to have accessed the cabin of a colleague to retrieve chemicals for experiments. The matter was resolved after the Assistant Professor apologised, though no formal complaint was lodged.
Ramesh Pai, Dean and Head of the School of Physical and Applied Sciences, had stated on Monday that no exam-related complaints had been made to him about the Assistant Professor. “I have not received complaints regarding exams or grievances about the examination process. The only issue I was informed about was the opening of a faculty member’s cabin, but there was no mention of question papers being leaked,” he had told O Heraldo.
To help out the four-member committee, the Directorate of Higher Education shall provide the necessary secretarial support, while the Goa University shall provide the office space for working, the order issued by Safal Shetye, Under Secretary, Higher Education, said.