sources had told

that there was pressure on the director to give land for

cricket academy. However,

has strongly denied that this is the case. In fact, he has said he has no plans for a cricket academy. We are sorry to have carried the news on the basis of sources which have been reliable in the past and didn't check with

. We are sorry for this. We are also removing all mentions of this from the story.

NEW DELHI: IIT Delhi director Raghunath K Shevgaonkar has quit more than two years before the end of his term. A senior IIT official confirmed the news on Saturday though human resource development ministry officials claimed they were unaware of it.Shevgaonkar has been under tremendous pressure from the ministry to reportedly release pay of nearly Rs 70 lakh to former IIT D faculty and now BJP functionary Subramanian Swamy as his "salary dues" between 1972 and 1991.IIT Delhi has been maintaining that Swamy has not provided it with an information it first needs: the details of his earnings from the time of his termination as a professor in 1972 to March 1991, when he was reinstated following a court order.Swamy had been demanding his salary dues during the period along with an 18% interest, which both IIT and the HRD ministry initially rejected. Swamy then went to the Delhi high court, and last year, it dismissed IIT's plea that his petition should not be entertained.The ministry changed its stance after the Modi government assumed office this year. Recently, it sought the advice of the department of personnel & training on whether Swamy's case came under the government's general financial rules and service rules and if he could be granted 'extraordinary leave' between 1972 and 1991.(IIT Delhi director Raghunath K Shevgaonkar has quit more than two years before the end of his term.)The ministry even organized a meeting between Shevgaonkar and other senior IIT officials with Swamy. But Shevgaonkar, the sources said, wasn't in favour of an out-of-court settlement and wanted to pursue the legal battle. "The director was of the view that such a settlement will create a bad precedent. He also felt that the case had political overtones," the senior IIT official said.Oops. A clarification:-IITTOISachinTendulkar'sTendulkarTendulkar