I served as Director of the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali. During my tenure, I became the target of a relentless and vindictive campaign engineered by Dr. V. M. Katoch and Mr. Rajneesh Tingal. Their collusion, primarily aimed at shielding a Registrar whom I had suspended for multiple acts of omission and commission, led to my suspension twice. Each action against me was not only malicious but also in direct violation of the law, as repeatedly confirmed by the Punjab and Haryana High Court.
The law is unambiguous: under the NIPER Act, the appointing authority for the Director is the Visitor, who happens to be the President of India. Consequently, only the Visitor has the authority to institute any inquiry or committee against the Director. No other authority—certainly not the Board of Governors (BoG) or its chairman—has the legal competence to do so. This position was upheld by the Punjab and Haryana High Court, which even granted me an absolute stay in CWP-28630-2018.
Despite this clear legal position, Dr. Katoch and Mr. Tingal brazenly constituted a Fact-Finding Committee (FFC) against me in June 2019, bypassing every rule of natural justice.
On June 29, 2019, Dr. Katoch issued an order constituting a Fact-Finding Committee. This order itself was a sham. It was issued on his personal letterhead, where he misrepresented his residential address as the “Office of the Chairman.” The NIPER Act recognizes no such office. NIPER Mohali operates only from its official premises in Sector 67, SAS Nagar (Mohali). By masquerading his private residence as an official office, Dr. Katoch not only misled the system but also made a mockery of institutional governance.
The Committee itself was illegally constituted. It included officers junior in rank, without requisite qualifications or eligibility. One member, Mr. Mohanbir Singh Sidhu, Additional Director in Punjab’s Technical Education Department, was not even a Punjab Civil Services (PCS) officer. This fact was corroborated by a Times of India report dated November 24, 2017, “Health minister’s OSD among 5 non-PCS officers recommended for IAS nomination.” The report confirmed that Mr. Sidhu was a non-PCS officer who had unsuccessfully applied for IAS nomination multiple times.
The second member, Mr. Moninder Singh, a Deputy Director in the same department, was junior to Mr. Sidhu. Both officers were unqualified to sit on a committee investigating the Director of a national institute. Yet, their inclusion was deliberate—chosen for pliability rather than competence.
I raised objections. I pointed out that Mr. Sidhu was even attending BoG meetings without any authorization, and I highlighted the dubious background of both members. But my objections were ignored.
The timing of these actions was telling. The BoG’s tenure was due to end on October 2, 2019. In its dying weeks, the Chairman pushed through these illegal moves with urgency and malice. By then, I had already been forced to approach the High Court twice to shield myself from his vendetta.
The BoG’s track record was clear:
- It had illegally suspended me earlier.
- It had clandestinely forwarded my suspension recommendation to the Visitor.
- It had filed Letters Patent Appeals (LPAs) during the pendency of writ petitions—deliberately two days before scheduled hearings—to create confusion and prejudice the Court.
Each act revealed desperation to remove me, even as the courts repeatedly protected my position. Their objective was never justice, but vendetta.
Amidst this turmoil, a new body was quietly created. On May 7, 2019, the Government of India’s Department of Pharmaceuticals issued F.No. 50020/15/2018-NIPER, setting up an “Apex Council” chaired by the Secretary of the Department. This Council included BoG Chairmen and Directors of all NIPERs.
However, the NIPER Act was never amended to create such a body. The Apex Council had no legal standing. Yet, it began exercising sweeping powers—disbursing grants, making policy decisions, and interfering in governance. Its very formation was illegal, and a thorough investigation into its functioning could unearth many skeletons, including questionable grants and irregular decisions.
Adding to this sordid saga was the matter of legal expenses. Towards the end of his tenure, Dr. Katoch authorized a payment of ₹8.80 lakh to a lawyer of his personal choice—who was not even on the NIPER legal panel. These bills were cleared in the final month of the outgoing Secretary’s tenure. Strangely, they pertained to an LPA already dismissed on December 11, 2018.
Why were bills raised months later, in May 2019? The timing suggests deliberate delay. The expectation was that I would be removed, and pliant appointees—such as Dr. SJS Flora, holding additional charge as Director, or the Deputy Registrar I had suspended—would clear the bills without question. When my removal was stalled by court orders, they attempted to pressure me to approve the dubious payments myself.
I had urged that only officers with a clean image be appointed to any Fact-Finding Committee. Instead, individuals with tainted backgrounds were handpicked.
A Tribune report dated December 6, 2017, “Officer accused of fund bungling, probe ordered,” documented allegations of financial misappropriation against none other than Mr. Mohanbir Singh Sidhu. The complaint alleged bungling of central funds worth ₹84 crore meant for setting up seven polytechnics in Punjab. Sidhu was named explicitly in the report. It also noted his strong political connections and repeated attempts at IAS nomination.
This alone should have disqualified him. Instead, he was placed on a committee meant to judge the Director of a national institute.
Taken together, the sequence of events paints a clear picture:
- I suspended the Registrar for irregularities.
- In retaliation, Dr. Katoch and Mr. Tingal colluded to shield him and target me.
- Illegal committees were formed despite explicit court rulings.
- Unqualified officers with questionable integrity were appointed to probe me.
- Dubious payments were sanctioned at the end of tenures.
- An illegal Apex Council was created to centralize power outside the NIPER Act.
At every stage, the law was bent, twisted, or outright ignored. At every stage, my efforts to uphold institutional integrity were punished with personal vendetta.
The governance of NIPER Mohali during this period became a textbook case of how rules can be subverted, institutions hijacked, and individuals persecuted. The actions of Dr. V. M. Katoch and his allies were not about accountability—they were about revenge. Their single-minded aim was to discredit me and protect the Registrar I had acted against.
What happened at NIPER is not just my personal ordeal. It is a warning of how public institutions can be undermined when individuals misuse authority, sidestep the law, and operate without accountability.
As someone who has dedicated his career to public service and academic leadership, I place these facts on record. Let them serve as evidence of the vindictiveness I faced, and as a reminder that no individual, however powerful, should be allowed to bend institutions to personal ends.
