In 1985, Dinanath Upadhyay had been charged for committing an irregularity in the `Padarth Vigyan' practical examination by some of the concerned students. A university committee thereafter decided to permanently debar Upadhyay from being associated with any work relating to examinations as his involvement in the irregularity was ``circumstantially proved, more as (sic) because of his refusal to co-operate with the committee''.

Subsequently, Upadhyay moved the Bombay High Court in 1990 against this decision of the committee. However, while his petition was first rejected by a high court judge, he filed an appeal in the division bench of the Bombay High Court. On January 23, 1991, the bench directed the university to reconsider his case afresh.

On February 28, 1991, the Executive Council of the university resolved that Upadhyay should be reinstated as an examiner. Recently, however, senate member Amarjit Singh Manhas demanded from the varsity that Upadhyay should not be allowed to continue as the dean as the Executive Council had never exonerated him -- the council had merely reinstated him as an examiner after debarring him for over five years.

Following this demand, the university sought opinion from the legal advisor M B Pawar, whose suggestion has been tabled in the agenda of the Management Council which shall finally take a decision on September 11.

Without going into the issue of exoneration of the dean, the legal advisor has stated: ``The malpractices and irregularities were committed in 1985 and Shri Dinanath Upadhyay was debarred from taking part in the process of examination in 1985.'' It further says that this act was not made an a offence to disqualify a person to hold the post of authorities under the old Bombay University Act of 1974.

The legal advisor reasons that only if such offences were noticed after 1994, can a person be disqualified from holding any authority or position in the varsity, as per section 44 (e) of the MU Act (1994). ``Therefore for the punishment awarded in 1985 Shri Dinanath Upadhyay cannot be disqualified now under the MU Act, 1994,'' concludes the legal advice.