The registrar’s post at NIPER Mohali has been converted into a permanent post by the bureaucrats of the Department of Pharmaceuticals, Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers, Government of India.
Mr. Rajneesh Tingal was Joint Secretary in the Department of Pharmaceuticals at that time, Mr. Jitendra Trivedi was the Director for NIPERs at the Department of Pharmaceuticals, and Ms. Meenakshi Gupta was the Financial Advisor. Mr. P.J.P. Singh Waraich joined NIPER Mohali in 2011 and was suspended by Dr. Raghuram Rao Akkinepally for various acts of omission and commission.
However, Dr. V.M. Katoch acted in a rash manner and, within 12 hours of the suspension of Mr. Waraich, revoked his suspension. In the meantime, in a Letters Patent Appeal (LPA), the stay on the order of the Single Bench of the Punjab and Haryana High Court was vacated, and the services of Mr. Waraich were terminated. CBI F.I.R. RCCHG2016A0005 dated 14.01.2016 lists him as accused number three.
NIPER Mohali is the only institute in India where the post of the registrar has been converted into a permanent post. The registrar’s post is typically a single post in any institute and is a tenured post. Posts of registrars and vice-chancellors in universities, IITs, and similar institutes are kept as tenured posts to ensure that others have an opportunity to ascend to such grades. However, at NIPER Mohali, once a registrar, always a registrar. Surprisingly, the director’s post at all NIPERs is a tenured post, and the registrar’s post at all NIPERs except NIPER Mohali is also tenured.
NIPER Mohali, along with other NIPERs, follows IIT Delhi rules or rules adopted by other IITs, and these rules designate the registrar’s post as a tenured post. UGC guidelines on the post of registrar, which apply to all institutes covered under the University Grants Commission, also specify that the registrar’s post is tenured. NIPER Mohali ostensibly follows IIT Delhi rules where the registrar’s post is tenured. Mr. Waraich’s initial appointment was for five years, but under the guise of regularization, the post was converted into a permanent and regular position, which is against UGC norms.
Since Mr. Waraich holds the position of registrar, he is responsible for ensuring compliance with rules and for guiding the board with accurate information. However, due to his role as registrar, the protection offered by bureaucrats in the Department of Pharmaceuticals, and the patronage of Dr. V.M. Katoch, the post was regularized and made permanent. After completing the regularization process through a High-Level Committee,
Mr. Waraich formed an internal committee tasked with reexamining cases that had already been reviewed by the High-Level Committee. Can a committee within the institute, comprising officials like a stenographer, section officer (administration), assistant registrar (establishment), deputy registrar (F&A), and a professor, reexamine cases that have already been scrutinized by a High-Level Committee consisting of a secretary, joint secretary, and similar officials? Such a scenario exemplifies an unprecedented and blatant instance of fraud in an institute of national importance.
