Periyar University Teachers Association’s president lodges complaint against registrar for derogatory post on WhatsApp group

PUTA president lodges complaint against Periyar University Registrar for defamatory post on WhatsApp group. Investigation underway.

The Periyar University Teachers Association (PUTA) president V. Vaithianathan has lodged a complaint with the Salem City police against Periyar University Registrar (Full Additional Charge) K. Thangavel, for a defamatory post on the university’s official WhatsApp group. The complaint was lodged on Monday, January 29, 2024.

In the complaint to Salem City Police and T.N. Higher Education Secretary, the PUTA president said that on January 22, at 9.38 p.m., Mr. Thangavel posted a video on the Periyar University Public Relation Officer (PUPRO) WhatsApp group. In the video, Mr. Thangavel mentioned the PUTA president’s name in a derogatory manner. Soon after, however, he deleted these messages.

Mr. Vaithianathan stated that the public relation officer group’s sole purpose was to post instructions and orders from the Vice Chancellor; personal messages are not to be posted on the group. It may be recalled that the University’s Vice Chancellor, R. Jagannathan, was arrested by the Salem City police last month. He was subsequently given bail.

Mr. Vaithianthan alleged that it was not known whether the registrar had posted the video as per the Vice Chancellor’s instructions. He also alleged that the registrar was trying to prevent his work as PUTA president and spoil his image through a post such as this, and demanded that action be taken against him.

Police sources said that an investigation is taking place with regard to the complaint.