Santiniketan, Sept. 23: Visva-Bharati's executive council, the university's apex decision-making body in administrative matters, will have a legal expert as one of its members after three decades.

Former judge of Allahabad High Court, Sakharam Singh Yadav, who is also on the committee to probe allegations of financial and administrative irregularities against vice-chancellor Sushanta Dattagupta, has been given the appointment.

Justice Yadav will be in the executive council (EC) as the governor's nominee.

Sources in the EC said the need to have the opinion of a legal expert before taking any administrative decision such as appointments was felt following recent protests at the varsity. The protests were held over certain administrative decisions of the VC, who is also the chairman of the executive council.

Justice Yadav did not take calls by this newspaper.

Protests by teachers, non-teaching employees as well as a section of students had rocked the varsity campus in January and February this year following these administrative decisions by the VC.

Dattagupta allegedly created three new posts of provosts though the Visva-Bharati Act does not mention any such post. The University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation on pay package also does not provide for such positions.

It was alleged that the VC had appointed S.B. Sarbadhikari, a professor of history, as controller of examination without any advertisement or selection panel.

Dattagupta also created a few posts of directors without the sanction of the UGC, it had been alleged. The VC had also allegedly transferred principals of Patha Bhavana and Shiksha Satra, two constituent schools of the university, as directors of the institute of education of the university. The director's posts were created by the VC before transferring the principals.

Confirming the selection of Justice Yadav, the President's nominee in the EC and veteran Congress leader Sushovan Banerjee said: "The governor has appointed his new nominee, Justice Sakharam Singh Yadav, in the EC. We have been already informed about the decision by the governor's office. Visva-Bharati has also been formally informed about it. This will be good as the legal aspect of any administrative decision taken by the EC can be properly examined."

Banerjee added that a legal expert was being brought in to the EC after about three decades. "Former judge of Calcutta High Court, Justice S.A. Masood, was the chancellor's nominee in the EC in the 1980s when Indira Gandhi was the Prime Minister as well as the chancellor of the university."

Sources in the EC said that at present, Srikumar Banerjee is the governor's nominee in the EC and his term ends on November 11 this year and Justice Yadav will take over thereafter.

The EC has 14 members. They include, the VC, the pro-VC, three directors, two nominees of the President and the governor, the chancellor's nominee, two senior professors, three principals from the Bhavanas, and a former professor.

The general secretary of the teachers' organisation, Adhyapak Sabha, Rajesh K. Venugopal told The Telegraph: "We welcome Justice Yadav in the executive council. During the tenure of the present VC, several irregular appointments have been made. Now, Visva-Bharati will have a legal expert in the EC in order to examine the decisions from the legal point of view."

Kishor Bhattacharya, the treasurer of Visva-Bharati's Adhyapak Sabha, said: "We demand a thorough investigation against all officials who were involved in the different irregularities. The decision to select a legal expert for the EC is a good one as now illegal decisions can be prevented."

Officiating registrar Mani Mukut Mitra said: "We are yet to get any information in this regard."