DAVAMANI, ALAGAPPA UNIVERSITY AND OIL MASSAGE

At the outset all those who have respect for education and educational institutions must excuse me for using an irreverent caption for this write up. So long as the so called academicians, research guides and administrators care the least to uphold the integrity of the academic institutions they swear by and indulge in common crimes you do not find better metaphors to capture the reality.

 Alagappa University came before the High Court as late as 05.12.2013 to make an averment that Davamani Chistober has committed a fraud in obtaining the PhD Interdisciplinary (Mathematics and Education). This happened after much prodding through RTI for two years and filing of and court cases. But what it has revealed to the court and to me under RTI is much less than what has happened. Think about the following questions?

        1. How can the Research section of Alagappa University accept a thesis with the wrong nomenclature written on the face sheet during Davamani’s second submission (2007)?

         2.How come on 28.07.2007, the Viva Committee which had the two guides as members- Dr.Gabriale (Botony) and Dr.Mohan(Tamil)- turned a blind eye to the wrong and fraudulent declaration by Davamani on the very face-sheet and went about valuing the thesis and make the recommendation, to use their exact words, “the candidate may be awarded PhD in Education.”

        3.   When Viva Committee’s recommendation is final as for the matter of awarding PhD degree is concerned as per Alagappa University rules, why Registrar Dr.R.Dandabani, with impunity issued a certificate saying “Mr. Davamani Christober be declared to have qualified for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Education – Interdisciplinary (Education and Mathematics) on 12.09.2007?”

      4.  Why Alagappa University even after saying Davamani as having committed a fraud, instead of cancelling his degree and filing a criminal complaint for cheating in the examination , is trying to a assuage him by awarding him the so called corrected version of  PhD namely “PhD in Education?” Is it not to protect its own employees telling the world that “it was only an administrative oversight?”

 (Alagappa University seems to have said that Davamani only cheated and not our staff. It also seems to have said “Davamani Davamani, we after all like you! Oh what a toil over research and over how many years? What will you do without a PhD as a Principal? We will now suitably reward you with the ‘correct pure version of PhD’ for having remained with us and meddling around for nine years.”)

 Nice oil message, isn’t it?

Let us be serious now. It is quite obvious that certain administrative staff, both the guides and the Registrar have actively colluded/collaborated/manipulated records/cheated in order to help Davamani who ultimately cheated the system. All these people are liable under various sections of Indian Criminal Law. And it is the duty of the present Alagappa University administration not to hide under the theory of ‘correcting a simple mistake' but order for an inquiry and file a criminal complaint.

If they fail in this responsibility, we have to initiate the process ourselves in public interest. Will anyone join me?

AMERICAN COLLEGE: OSTRICH LAND?

      

What frustrate everybody including Davamani, are the court cases that are pending against Davamani. Let us see first why Davamani is frustrated. As he believed and as every friend and foe of his believed, he could not exasperate and drive out of court, his adversary. First, it is his true and imagined money power – imagined by himself and aficionados- which he thought would drain every saving of his poor opponent making him leave the court in poverty. Not only has he been arraying in the High Court and Supreme Court country’s best paid lawyers but also using every fine nuance available in court conventions, to delay the cases so that the last copper coin falls out of the hole he punches in the opponent’s wallet. But this did not happen and would not happen.  I WILL NOT TELL YOU NOW, WHY AND HOW?

Next he thought, he can negotiate with the adversary. But poor “D” does not understand the grammar of negotiation. In any good negotiation, the negotiator ought to know what exactly the adversary wants to get out of the deal. But like a medieval bigot “D” wants to dictate what the adversary should want. It is a pity that the adversary wants “D” to squarely quit from the office of the Principal as he has committed fraud. It is non-negotiable for his adversary.

I, without fear or favour made public “D's” commission of fraud as early as September-October 2012 by calling for press meets and demanding CBCID enquiry into the affair. I wrote to the Governor of Tamilnadu too on 17 Oct0ber 2012.  But the wheels of justice are too rusty to move fast. But they seem to move now, grating and creaking.

Even notorious dictators, during the last days of their life become ostriches. Overcome by fear, they instinctively bury their heads under the sand.

Likewise instead of seeing the end nearing, “D” seems to brazenly say three things. “I have the right qualification; even if I go, I will see my adversary does not become the Principal but one who is of my choice; the Bishop will after all will listen to me!”

The ostrich first goes through a spell of denial, second suffers Lallu-Babri syndrome and third casts aspersions on the Bishop as if he is a chamcha. And then, it buries its head under the sand. What a fun!

But the cause of my sadness comes from my own friends and not foes. All those camp-following friends of mine, not simple camp followers - in fact wanted me to pack up and go as early as Nov.2010 as I retired and as they wanted to finish up with the burden of protest. In a way they were right as they became the primary stake holders in the college- and not retired people like me- certainly had every right to decide what they wanted to do with the struggle.

But in the spirit of an old veteran I kept telling my good friends that academic freedom and integrity are matters of constant struggle and no one should slip into any ‘comfort zone’. This evoked only hostility in them and smartly they started distancing from me. Some even became slanderous, others openly hostile and the remaining cold and indifferent. A very very close friend of mine even misheard “comfort zone” as “commode zone.” He then mercilessly judged me to be ‘rude’ and a ‘person without character’ and snapped his 29 year old friendship with me. Yet another friend cried foul, calling it a great ‘public humiliation’ of himself and his friends and henceforth will not stand my sight.

Leave my sob story and think of the present. There is a perfect silence about the commission of fraud by none other than the head of the institution – the institution about which we used to compulsively fuss over as “Enchanted Garden of Freedom,” “Temple of wisdom”  “House of Joy” and “Christian witness.” Once again at the risk of losing a few remaining friends and invoking hostility from many, I appeal to those who swear by American College and its tradition, not to be left in the “comfort zone” but raise their voice and refuse to accommodate a crime. Any failure in this regard, would amount to willfully destroying the integrity of the institution. An institution devoid of integrity, in no time will purge your integrity.

 You too therefore, for your own sake can’t bury your head under the sand, and wait for us to win the case in the High Court to remove “D” from office.

The Church and the Church-appointed Council which boast of having salvaged the college from the ‘heathen hands of Chinnaraj’ has after all has gifted it only to a fraudster. It is no easy irony that it has chosen such people to defend Christian Higher Education, worse, Christian commitment. I, along with a very courageous faculty member, as early as Oct.2012 sent a detailed petition to the Council about the alleged offence committed  by the Hon’ble Principal & Secretary. The Bishop of Madurai Ramnad Diocese as the President of the Council ought to have known this. The Council and the Bishop if they think they can also bury their heads under the sand, then they may have to wait for some more time to reckon with their liability in this matter.

I know many of you are eagerly but silently and anonymously waiting for the court verdict. But I want to remind you of one thing: there lie behind the prospective success of our two year long fight in the courts, the conviction, perseverance and tremendous financial sacrifices of only a handful of people whom for reasons best known to all, were discarded by the majority. 

I come to know that “D” is quite abusive of me for me 'being present in the courts'. See His Majesty’s anger! Who needs whose permission to go to a court in India? If needed, I can even take anyone to the court on legal grounds! Mr.Davamani, do you know yet another thing? Under the procedures laid by Indian Penal Law, anyone can set the criminal law in motion when he or she comes across a crime. Are you aware of your own vulnerability in this regard?

No one needs any more, bury his or her head under the sand. It will make American College an ‘ostrich land’, I mean a desert.

ALAGAPPA UNIVERSITY SOMERSAULT

When we  finally filed a Writ Petition before the Hon'ble High Court of Madras(Madurai Bench) in Feb 2012, Alagappa University took the wake up call.

19.07.2012 Research Advisory Committee of AU after a probe, recommended withdrawal of Davamani's interddisciplinary degree.

03.09.2012 standing Committee on Academic Affairs of Au approves withdrawal.

10.12.2012 Syndicate of AU further resolves to withdraw Davamani's degree.

05.12.2013 After abut a year AU says before the High Court that Davamani commited fraud.

Thanks to RTI and those honest academic officers who headed the Committee whom"D" could not manipulate.

 You can read for yourself the following.

DAVAMANI JUGGLING WITH DEGREES:One Registration Four PhD's

It is quite strange that for one PhD registration you can get four versions of PhD, three from the degree awarding university and one from the university that approves your appointment. This is possible only in India and when you are a "big educationist" with money. See here more than anything, the tell tale example of the break down  of our university system.

1.28.07.2007:  "PhD EDUCATION" (Awarded by Viva-Voce Committee of Alagappa University- See previous post).


2.12.09.2007:   "PhD  INTERDISCIPLINARY(EDUCATION & MATHEMATICS)" (Modified by Registrar, Alagappa University- See previous post).

3.28.01.2008:   "PhD EDUCATION (INTERDISCIPLINARY)"(Further modified by Sydicate of Alagappa university- See below).

4. 25.02.2013:  "PhD IN EDUCATION WITH MATHEMATICS IN SPECIALISATION"(Modified by Madurai Kamaraj University Syndicate which has no jurisdiction over Alagappa University award of a degree- See below).

PhD Degree Awarded to "D" in Convocation (Alagappa University)

Madurai Kamaraj Univesity Syndicate innovating and improving upon what Alagappa University has done

AMERICAN COLLEGE UPDATE... 6 (Chronology of a Crime: Count 2,3 & 4)

Can you guess what is wrong with these three documents and write down what are criminal counts 2,3&4?

AMERICAN COLLEGE UPDATE...5 (Chronology of a Crime: Count-1)

Can you guess what is wrong with these four 

documents?

PhD Application

PhD registration Certificate

Original Submission

Mnuplated Sbmission

If you can't guess, read the following...

25.09.1998 Mr.Davamani applies for PhD in "Education"

10.12.1998 Mr. 'D' given registration in "Education" by Alagappa University

March 2006 Mr. 'D' submits his thesis in "Education"

Foreign examiner instructs 'D' to correct certain content of the thesis

June 2007 Instead 'D' changes the nomenclature of the degree into "Education(Interdisciplinary: Education & Mathematics)" which you can see in the face sheet.

Does this not amount to fraud? Count 1: Cheating by "D"

AMERICAN COLLEGE UPDATE…3

       Sometime back I foretold that there is going to be a New Year gift for those who really care for the well being of the American College. Our long wait has really paid. Hearing the SLP filed in the Amirtharajan Case today, the SC has given a direction that is a major breakthrough. Now it is enough that that we prove that Mr. Davamani does not hold a valid degree. That is going to be very easy.

      Let me quote what the Alagappa University which awarded PhD to Mr. Davamani Christober

 has said before the court:    

             

     “ … the sixth respondent [Davamani Christober] filed an application for convocation wrongly and fraudulently mentioning his discipline as Education (Inter disciplinary) Education & Mathematics along with the prescribed fees. The said application was dealt by the Controller of Examination of the 7th respondent University [Alagappa University] and stage managed to get the degree in the same discipline as Education (Interdisciplinary) Education & Mathematics instead of Education.

DO UNIVERSITIES TELL LIES?