Convocation: SEC justifies TNAU decision

COIMBATORE: In an unusual and controversial move, the State Election Commission (SEC) has justified the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University’s (TNAU) decision to postpone its scheduled 32nd convocation thereby delaying the delivery of degree certificates to over 950 graduands. On September 22, Express had published a report ‘Civic Poll Dates Hold Up TNAU Convocation’ in which the university’s Vice Chancellor P Murugesa Boopathi had said that the ceremony was being put off since the State Agriculture Minister K A Sengottaiyan would not be able to attend the function after the local body  poll dates were notified. In a press release issued on Thursday, the SEC said “This Commission received information that the TNAU’s 32nd convocation was scheduled for September 22. The TNAU was informed that the model code of conduct for the Tamil Nadu local body polls came into force with the notification of the elections on September 21. On this basis, the convocation was cancelled.” This voluntary clarification from the SEC has baffled many. For, the TNAU Registrar P Subbian had sent an e-mail to media offices announcing the postponement of the convocation on the night of September 20 itself, i.e, a day before the SEC had notified the elections and the model code of conduct came into force. The TNAU press release unambiguously mentioned that the convocation ceremony was being put off “in lieu of the likely announcement of dates for local body elections, and the election code of conduct (See scanned copy).” “When this is the case, the SEC’s claim falls flat. It would appear as if the Commission had informed the university about the election dates, a day in advance before the official announcement, in violation of rules,” a senior faculty member of the TNAU said. K M Vijayan, senior advocate, Madras High Court, said that “the SEC advising the TNAU to postpone its convocation is a dangerous development. Convocation is a routine function of the university. Every student who writes the examination will be getting the result and thereafter receive the degree certificate. The convocation need not have been postponed as it would have in no way affected the free and fair conduct of the elections.”