Five months are left for the five-year term of Director, Indian Institute of Management, Rohtak, to end. The Union Government is still trying to get hold of his undergraduate degree.
Records show that the Education Ministry has written twice to IIM Rohtak Director Dheeraj Sharma this year .They have been asking him for verified copies of his educational certificates to which the Director hasn’t replied. This even as the Centre defends his appointment in court against allegations of ineligibility.
A first-class Bachelor’s degree is a pre-requisite for getting appointed as Director. However, while the Education Ministry has copies of Sharma’s MBA degree from Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University. It also PhD degree from Louisiana Tech University (LTU), US. However it has no official record of his undergraduate degree. It’s not clear how Sharma’s appointment was approved in February 2017 without this document.
The Ministry’s senior counsel, who is representing the government in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, advised the government to obtain Sharma’s undergraduate degree and file it in court . This is to “negate the primary contention of the petitioner” regarding his educational qualification.
In its affidavit finally filed in February this year, the government defended the appointment. It urged the court to dismiss the plea saying the petitioners have no locus standi. It said that none of the 60 applicants for the Director’s job had challenged the same.
The Ministry filed copies of Sharma’s MBA and PhD degrees but not his undergraduate degree. Subsequently, it sent him two reminders.
Sharma declined to comment.
Sources close to him said he had provided the Ministry “whatever it needed” to verify his eligibility. He holds an undergraduate degree from Delhi University, the source added.
The Education Ministry did not respond to an email asking how Sharma’s appointment was approved without his Bachelor’s degree on record and what had it done in the absence of a reply from Sharma.
Legal Counsel was asked if Sharma had submitted proof of his Bachelor’s degree at the time of seeking admission. LTU Legal Counsel Justin Kavalir said that he did since it is “required with the application “
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