The Besu campus after the March clashes. A Telegraph picture

The probe into students’ unrest at Bengal Engineering and Science University (Besu) has been delayed further, as the former vice-chancellor who will conduct the inquiry has been taken ill.

Sparshamani Chatterjee, who will head the one-man probe panel, is being treated in a nursing home for an infection in his left leg and has been advised rest for a month.

The panel, set up on April 8, was to submit its report by July. But it could not start work in full swing till mid-June as the Besu authorities were waiting for a clearance from the state government for issuing a notification on the constitution of the panel. The clearance came on June 17.

“The government’s letter issuing the clearance reached us on June 17. We have sent it to Chatterjee because the notification cannot be published without his approval. We will have to wait till he recovers,” said Besu registrar Biman Bandyopadhyay.

The Shibpur campus was on the boil and academic activities were on hold for more than two weeks in March following students’ clashes.

The university had issued a notification on March 29 on the constitution of the probe panel. But Chatterjee refused to take charge till the chancellor, Governor Gopalkrishna Gandhi, asked him to.

This prompted the government to issue an order on April 8, appointing Chatterjee as the chairman of the panel.