Despite being charged for allowing his own PhD thesis to be plagiarised by a student, sociology professor at the varsity seeks post with the alleged support of RSS leaders
Despite being charged for allowing his own PhD thesis to be plagiarised by a student, sociology professor at the varsity seeks post with the alleged support of RSS leadersAn unlikely candidate is vying for the post of registrar of the Bangalore University (BU) and according to sources in the BJP, there is a strong possibility that he will succeed due to alleged senior RSS leader backing.
B C Mailarappa, a sociology professor in BU, was found guilty of plagiarism as he had allegedly allowed PhD student Venkataramanappa to use content from his own PhD thesis.
High hopes: Buoyed by political backing, Mailarappa felt that his
appointment would be unopposed. File picInvestigators found that the student's thesis was a verbatim copy of Mailarappa's, and a division bench of the HC has ordered to annul the syndicate's decision to award Venkataramanappa a PhD.
B C MailarappaOn holdWhile Venkataramanappa has got a stay on the government order to annul the thesis based on the court's verdict, Mailarappa is lobbying hard to take over as the registrar of the university. With the term of incumbent registrar R M Ranganath coming to end on June 30, Mailarappa's chances look bright with RSS leader and former MLC K Narahari and Justice Rama Jois, MLC, on his side.
"Mailarappa is a criminal and should be punished, but the BJP government is out to reward him with a significant post like registrar of the university," said A P Ranganath, former syndicate member. "It is to be vehemently condemned," he added.
He said a registrar post functions as custodian of documents and administrative head of the university, and therefore requires to be held by a person with a clean image.
Political leaningMailarappa is a member of the ruling BJP and he had contested and lost the last assembly polls in 2008, with the party ticket. Also, the leaders are obviously aggressive while defending his case. "People have leveled charges against Mailarappa only to malign him. He is eligible to be the registrar as he has served as a professor in the university and I don't think there are any objections," said Narahari.
It is said that Vice Chancellor Dr Prabhudev, whose job it is to appoint the registrar, is not for choosing Mailarappa. However, he is likely to bog down under pressure of the ruling party, as he aspiring for the VC post at the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (RGUHS), which is considered to be more lucrative.
Quite tempting?"The post of VC in RGUHS is falling vacant in the next month and Prabhudev is vying for it. So in the bargain, he may concede though he is not willing to see Mailarappa as the registrar," said a source in the BU.
While Prabhudev was not available for comment, Minister for Higher Education V S Acharya, chose to keep mum. "I don't know anything about this. Please, don't ask me any questions," he said.
Buoyed by the political backing, Mailarappa hoped his appointment would be unopposed. "I don't want a confrontation with the VC as we have to work in tandem in case I am appointed as the registrar. Prabhudev may have some reservations, but I assure him of cooperation," he said.
