The two-member committee will have on board retired Justice Fakhruddin from the Madhya Pradesh High Court and A H Jung, a retired Indian Audits & Accounts Service officer who also served as secretary, civil aviation. The committee has been given three months time to submit its report on a range of allegations made against the Vice-Chancellor, Registrar and certain tangential authorities of the varsity.

“The charges against AMU V-C Prof P K Abdul Azis range from financial bungling to violation of rules and regulations and even a poor academic record, though the latter is not of that much consequence. Since there have been allegations and counter-allegations from amongst the AMU staff, the inquiry will cover a gamut of issues regarding the varsity,” sources confirmed.

The Indian Express was the first to report how the President, who is the Visitor to the AMU, issued a showcause notice to the V-C on the various charges levied against him. The V-C’s reply was not found satisfactory by the Visitor who approved a full inquiry against the AMU officials a month back. HRD Minister Kapil Sibal only recently gave the go ahead for the full Visitor inquiry, appointing the committee this week.

When contacted, AMU spokesperson Rahat Abrar said, “We have not received any such communication from the ministry as yet. If an inquiry is held, we will co-operate with it fully.”

Azis, who took over as AMU V-C in 2007, amid raging campus violence that forced the closure of the varsity, has been embroiled in controversy for more than a year now. Several of AMU’s Executive Council members met President Pratibha Patil recently and complained about the V-C’s conduct, claiming that he had violated all standard financial norms and proprieties during his tenure. They also demanded an inquiry against him.