Jadavpur University has asked the head of its English department to go on leave until the end of January while investigations into the allegations of harassment of two students during exam invigilation are underway.

Vice-chancellor Chiranjib Bhattacharjee took the decision on Tuesday — a day after a committee constituted by JU to investigate the allegations, recommended that the department head be relieved of her responsibilities pending the probe.

When contacted on Tuesday, the head of the department, Saswati Halder, refused to elaborate.

“I have applied for leave,” she told Metro.

A JU official said Halder was asked to meet the VC on Tuesday afternoon and was told to go on leave pending the probe.

The three-member committee, which met with the department head and one of the two students on Monday, will submit its report on January 30. “The head of the department has sought to go on leave. Her application has been granted,” VC Bhattacharjee said.

Another professor is going to be appointed as the department head.

A JU official said the VC told Halder that since the students were furious following the controversy that erupted over the alleged frisking of two students belonging to a community during the invigilation, she should not continue as the head for the time being.

Halder, along with a research scholar, allegedly frisked the two students on December 22 to ensure that they did not carry any cheating devices during the examinations.

A section of students in the English department had submitted a written complaint to the VC, alleging that the students were singled out and harassed in the name of strict invigilation during the third-semester exams.

On December 30, a West Bengal Minority Commission (WBMC) team recommended that the department head be barred from campus pending completion of the probe.

A professor of the department said it was “unfortunate” that the teacher was forced to go on leave before the investigation committee submitted its report and recommendation.

According to the professor, the department head did her job because, as teachers, they cannot let students adopt unfair means during the examinations.

“She apologised to the students belonging to a particular community for subjecting them to frisking. She has been frisking students like any other teacher, regardless of a student’s religious or community identity. Still, the teacher said she was ready to apologise. However, the university administration forced her to go on leave,” the professor said on the condition of anonymity.

“If this goes on, then no one will be ready to carry out the job of frisking. Professor Halder has been left traumatised over the way she was made to go on leave,” the professor said.

Syed Tanveer Nasreen, the chairperson of the investigating committee, said on Monday that one of the students who appeared before the commission said they found some of the questions posed to them during the frisking “offensive”.

“When asked about such questions, the teacher said she did this out of naivete,” Nasreen had said.

The board of studies for the English department had on Friday suggested that the departmental head speak to the two students and apologise.