Somnath Chatterjee

April 14: The principal of a Bolpur college has written to Burdwan University requesting it to stall the registration process of 25 students who were permitted to apply for their Part-I exam although they failed their selection test.

The request by the Purni Devi Chaudhuri Girls’ College on April 8 came after the university sought a performance report of the 25 girls, which governor M.K. Narayanan had asked for following the resignation of former Speaker Somnath Chatterjee as president of the college’s governing body.

Today, pro-vice-chancellor Shoroshi Mohan Dan said: “After we got the chancellor’s (Narayanan’s) letter, we sought a report from the (college) principal about the performance of the girls who had failed their test. The principal has requested us to keep the registration process on hold. He faxed us the report but it did not mention the marks the girls got in the qualifying test. We have sought another report.”

The decision of the college, which is affiliated to Burdwan University, to permit the failed students to apply for their BA Part-I exam under alleged political and parental pressure had prompted Chatterjee to resign on April 1.

Although principal Sunil Baran Mondal could not be contacted, a teacher of the college who did not want to be named said: “The university has asked for a detailed report on the marks of the 25 students.”

According to Dan, vice-chancellor Smriti Kumar Sarkar has asked the principal to meet him on April 16. Varsity officials said Sarkar was expected to seek an explanation from Mondal on why the students were allowed to apply for the exam, scheduled for the third week of May.

Contacted this afternoon, Chatterjee said: “I have already received a fax message from the college principal requesting me to withdraw my resignation. I am supposed to get an official letter in this regard. After that, I will take a call.”