The higher education department has formed a three-member panel headed by its special secretary Amit Sanyal to probe complaints of anomalies against the vice-chancellor of the West Bengal University of Technology (WBUT), Ranjan Bhattacharya.

This is the first time since the Trinamul Congress came to power in the state that a departmental probe has been ordered against a VC.

In 2011, then education minister Bratya Basu had sought permission from the governor, who is also chancellor of all state universities, to start a probe against then WBUT chancellor Sabyasachi Sengupta following complaints of financial irregularities and administrative lapses against him.

But M.K. Narayanan, who was then governor, denied the permission.

The three-member probe panel has been formed days after governor Keshari Nath Tripathi gave his go-ahead to the higher education department to start a probe against VC Bhattacharya.

The chancellor had in his communication on March 6 allowed the department to start the process of launching a preliminary probe by showcausing the vice-chancellor.

"If the reply is not satisfactory, then he had instructed the department to start a probe against the VC," a source said.

Sources added that as the department had already once showcaused him and did not get a satisfactory answer, a decision had been taken to start a formal probe with specific terms of reference.

"The chancellor's office will be told what prompted the department to start the inquiry," said an official.

Asked why Sanyal was assigned to head the inquiry, the official said the special secretary was the state government nominee to the university's executive council, the highest decision-making body of the institution. "Being aware of the university's administration, he is better placed to lead the probe. The other two members of the panel are from the higher education department, too," the official said.

The terms of reference, likely to be drawn up soon, might cover the complaint that the VC has failed to ensure transparency in the evaluation system by scrapping centralised evaluation in violation of rules, as well as charges of financial irregularities.

Alleged attempts to run the university bypassing the executive council, and suspending, showcausing and terminating university officials without showing valid reasons are also likely to be covered by the probe.

Bhattacharya has been at the helm of the WBUT for one year and seven months. During the period, only one meeting of the executive council has been held.

A higher education department official said the three-member panel would seek to know from the VC why he had scrapped the practice of centralised evaluation, mentioned in the first regulation of the university.

"For the past 14 years, the institute ensured transparency in evaluation by conducting centralised assessment of answer scripts. The university used to rent facilities, such as the Leather Technology College campus, for assessing answer scripts. But the VC scrapped the practice without getting the issue discussed by the executive council and passed the onus of marking the scripts to the affiliated colleges. Many charges of irregularities related to assessment have reached the government after the centralised system was scrapped," the official said.

In June last year, Bhattacharya had allegedly emailed questions of semester exams to the principals from his personal email address, drawing charges of violating the sanctity of the exam system. "The VC's account could have been hacked and the questions leaked," the official said.

VC Bhattacharya did not take calls when Metro tried to contact him.