``I don't hold anything against anyone'', she told Express Newsline on Thursday. ``But the university authorities should have examined all the allegations objectively and in detail.''

Primary among the charges against Shah is that she is rude and arrogant. Shah doesn't deny the charge, but explains it thus: ``If I'm rude, it's for the good of students. If I tell a student he doesn't know anything, it is an insult only if he regards it as one.

``I'm a stickler for discipline and punctuality. If I'm at the faculty by 8 am, I want the students to be there too.''

What about the fears that students who agitated against Shah would be victimised? ``The authorities should have considered the past performance of students under other teachers before arriving at such a conclusion'', she says.

So far as the latest agitation against her (inclusion in the examining committee) is concerned, Shah says she was not even the examiner for Disha Shah (second year BPA student) or Smruti Vaghela (post-graduate diploma student in Nattuvangam).

On the Bangladeshi students' claim to unconditional scholarships -- which, too, blew up into a controversy -- Shah says she told them in no uncertain terms that they would receive financial assistance only if they fulfilled the conditions of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations.

Another controversy surrounding Shah centres around the Kal ke Kalaakar programme, where participating students allegedly received empty envelopes instead of the expected stipend. To this, Shah says administrative delays prevented the amounts from coming through in time. ``Beside, the students involved never complained'', she adds.

Students also accuse Shah of making them perform at a wedding function in 1996. To this, Shah says this was nothing out of the ordinary and that she had all the necessary permissions.