delhi

Updated: Jul 27, 2019 03:28 IST

The spat between the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Ahmedabad, and the Union HRD ministry over the former’s hiring of suspended Indian Police Service officer Rajnish Rai deepened with the former responding to the latter’s query on Rai’s appointment by saying that it had done this only after studying various legal aspects of the case.

A person familiar with the matter said Eroll D’Souza, the director of what is widely considered India’s best business school, wrote a letter to the ministry in which he defended the institution’s decision to appoint Rai as an assistant professor. D’Souza could not be reached over phone for comment.

The IIM’s are largely autonomous institutes with the freedom to hire anyone of their choice. The Gujarat High Court, earlier this week, expressed its concern at the ministry of HRD asking IIM about the appointment of Rai.

Rai is a 1992 batch IPS officer who is best known for supervising the probe into the so-called encounter-killing of Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Kauserbi and Tulsiram Prajapati in 2007. A 1992-batch IPS officer, he sought voluntary retirement in November 2018 while posted in the Central Reserve Police Force. The home ministry rejected his request following which Rai moved the Gujarat high court requesting that he be treated as retired and allowed to take up another job. The government responded by suspending him.

IIM-A hired him in May.

The institute is believed to have told the ministry that while it was aware that the Centre considers Rai to be under suspension, the former IPS officer’s contention was that according to the norms related to civil servants, he should be treated as retired.