JU meet today, likely on Salt Lake campus, no deposition on day 1
Times of India | 27 August 2026
Kolkata: The first meeting of Jadavpur University (JU) inquiry committee will probably be held outside the main campus — at its Salt Lake campus — on Thursday to finalise the terms and conditions of the panel and decide the way forward. Sources said that there will not be any depositions on Thursday.
Calcutta High Court ex-judge Pranab Chatterjee will head the probe panel set up by JU to probe the campus vandalism and violence on Aug 19 and 20. The other external member on the committee is Soumendu Chatterjee, IQAC director, Presidency University, along with two JU officials who are only presenting officers.
A JU official said: “The first meeting of the panel will start around 11.30 am. There will be no deposition on the first day. The committee will finalize the terms and conditions and decide the way forward. The VC is in bed rest and won’t be able to join the meeting physically but will try to be there virtually.”
A campus source shared that though normalcy is slowly returning to the campus, the situation is still volatile. “The probe committee’s head stressed that the meeting be held outside the main campus because of his bitter experience in the past. So we have decided to hold it on the Salt Lake campus. The main campus is somewhat still tense and there is a chance that students from both sides of the political divide may want to submit deputations. We want to avoid such circumstances right now,” said a source.
JU formed the five-member inquiry committee on Aug 21 following the campus violence, appointing Subha Shankar Sarkar — former Netaji Subhas Open University VC — as its chairperson. But Sarkar sent a letter to JU VC Chiranjib Bhattacharjee on Aug 22, declining the role. The committee suffered the second jolt after another external member Arunasis Goswami, vice-chancellor of Baba Saheb Ambedkar Education University, stepped down on Sunday night. Goswami sent an email to VC Bhattacharjee citing admission and convocation preparations at his own university for refusing to stay on the panel. An official said: “It is learnt that the VC will request Goswami once again but if he doesn’t want to stay, the committee will hold the meeting with the rest of the members. Absence of any member will not impact the resolution of the committee.”
PG student Anushna Das said: “We wanted student observers in the panel for impartial probe but this demand has not been met. We may also go to the university authorities or the committee with this demand on Thursday.” The university issued a notice stating that all concerned can send their depositions on the vandalism and violence to a designated email address by 10 am on Aug 27. Students from both sides of the political divide have started lodging their complaints.