A section of teachers of Heramba Chandra College threatened to resign after being gheraoed, along with the principal, by students for several hours on Thursday night.

The students, reportedly backed by the Students’ Federation of India (SFI), were demanding a say in the admission process, which the teachers rejected.

Sources said the teachers had submitted a memorandum to principal Khagen Adhikari, stating that they would be forced to resign if such “unruly behaviour” was not curbed.

The problem at the college — the afternoon unit of South City College — started when a delegation of student leaders met the authorities with the plea that their representative be involved in the admission to first-year classes of all three streams.

They claimed that the general secretary of the students’ union — controlled by the SFI — is empowered to take part in the admission process.

The authorities, however, rejected the plea, with a section of teachers reportedly arguing that students should have no say in “important issues” like admission.

This prompted the students to start a sit-in around 2pm in front of the rector’s room, where the principal and the other teachers had gathered. They threatened that they would not allow any of the teachers to leave the room unless their demands were met.

Bikash Sarkar, an SFI leader and a former general secretary of the students’ union of the college, said: “ We have evidence to prove that there have been some irregularities in the admission process. We will not withdraw our movement until the authorities allow us to participate in the process.”

J. Mukherjee, principal of Prafulla Chandra College, the evening section of the institution, said the situation was under control.