The shocking stand of the central government has come to the fore on the ongoing controversy over the appointment of IIM Rohtak director Dheeraj Sharma. After repeated denials, the Central Government has finally admitted in court that Dheeraj Sharma did not fulfill the minimum educational qualification criteria for the post of Director of IIM Rohtak, yet he was appointed. This thing has come to the fore when Dheeraj Sharma has completed his five-year term and is on his way to his second term.
On Monday, the Ministry of Education (MoE) filed an affidavit in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, stating that Dheeraj Sharma was made the head of IIM-Rohtak despite having secured Second Division at the graduation level. Let us inform that Sharma completed his term on 9 February this year.
It is to be noted here that to get selected for the post of IIM Director, the candidate must have a bachelor’s degree with first division. But Sharma had passed from the second division.
The Indian Express had first pointed out this alleged irregularity in relation to his appointment in September 2021 and reported that Sharma had not awarded his bachelor’s degree to the ministry last year despite three letters.
Surprisingly, Sharma was reappointed for a second term by the Institute’s Board of Governors (BOG) on February 28 this year under the IIM Act.
Sharma was appointed with the prior approval of the Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) headed by the Prime Minister. The ACC had approved Sharma’s first term as director of IIM-Rohtak on February 10, 2017.
Thereafter, Sharma’s appointment was challenged in the Punjab and Haryana High Court and the petitioner alleged that the director, among other things, had misrepresented his educational qualifications and that he was not fit to continue in the post.