BU professor denies allegations levelled against him by PhD scholar from Kerala

COIMBATORE: The associate professor of the department of management at the

Anna University Coimbatore

regional centre, J Venkatesh, has denied allegations levelled against him by a part-time PhD scholar of the university.

The PhD scholar,

T K Kirubaharan

, submitted a written petition to the chief minister on Sunday seeking to set up an inquiry commission against Venkatesh. In his petition,

Kirubaharan

said the associate professor had demanded money for letting him complete his PhD thesis.

Kirubaharan said in 2010 he had enrolled for PhD under the associate professor. “Venkatesh had said he would help me complete the project in three years. But he demanded money from me saying it was for doctoral committee meetings and publishing papers in journals. At the end of three years, when I approached him to publish my thesis, he gave contradictory information and demanded more money,” Kirubaharan said.

Kirubaharan told TOI that when in November 2016 he had complained about this to the university, the issue was taken to the director of research, Anna University, Chennai, who changed his guide. “Now, I have submitted my thesis under a different guide and am waiting for viva,” he said. He had confronted Venkatesh on several occasions and demanded his money back, Kirubaharan said. Meanwhile, Venkatesh had filed a case against Kirubaharan in the Madras high court last year.

However, when contacted, Venkatesh denied the allegations.

“The issue has been going on for a few years now. I have filed a case against the student in the Madras high court and I have submitted all the documents pertaining to it in the court,” said Venkatesh. He added that there was an internal politics against him in the university and whole issue had been created to tarnish his reputation.

R Ravi, who had also enrolled for PhD under Venkatesh in 2010, said the associate professor had demanded and received around Rs2.5 lakh from him saying it was for doctoral committee meetings. “When he demanded for more money, I said I couldn’t afford it and withdrew from the PhD course,” Ravi said.

The university officials, when contacted, said they had received the complaints from the students and in the interest of their welfare, had changed the guides for those students. “The university is not aware of the supposed monetary dealings between the PhD scholar and the associate professor. Also, as there is a case pending before the high court, we must wait for its outcome,” said a university official.