Governor's conduct regrettable

In ordering a university-level probe into a sex-for-grades scandal exposed in an audio clip leak on the social media, Tamil Nadu governor Banwarlilal Purohit hasn’t exactly distinguished himself. He’s on shaky ground in trying to get to the bottom of the scandal with a one-man commission of inquiry he ordered as pro-chancellor of universities under the state government. The government is probing the same incident, where an assistant maths professor tried to lure girls into a human trafficking ring, providing sexual favours to unidentified high officials in return for advancement in academics and cash. A high-level judicial inquiry should have been ordered as the governor’s name has been dragged into it. The governor may well be innocent, but a proper inquiry is necessary so that all the facts come out.

The proactive occupant of the Chennai and Ooty Raj Bhavans may have rubbed Opposition politicians on the wrong side by his interventions in administrative matters, which a quiescent government had turned a Nelson’s eye to. He further exceeded his brief by holding an hour-long press conference at Raj Bhavan. To make matters worse, in a situation where the lives of students were sought to be compromised by a teacher, the governor landed an avuncular pat on the cheek of a woman reporter. The holder of a high constitutional office should have read the situation better, and not allowed his grandfatherly age to be the sole mark of sexual innocence. At this point, the Centre must suggest the right course of action as a governor represents the Union of India in the state capitals.