CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has quashed criminal proceedings initiated against VR Giridev, director of the Centre for Affiliation of Institutions (CAI) of Anna University, in connection with alleged irregularities in the grant of university affiliation, widely known as the ghost faculty case.

Inspections carried out during the 2023-24 academic year in engineering colleges that had applied for affiliation revealed that 353 faculty members were shown as full-time staff in more than one institution, indicating a violation of regulatory norms.

Alleging that such violations were overlooked while granting affiliation to private engineering colleges, the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption registered a case against 17 individuals, including 10 officials.

Among them were Giridev and seven others, comprising private college representatives and faculty members. Challenging the proceedings, Giridev contended before the Madras High Court that he had no nexus with the alleged irregularities.

Hearing the matter, Justice M Nirmal Kumar observed that the petitioner, after assuming charge as director, had taken earnest steps to introduce Aadhaar-based biometric identification and facial verification systems, and ensured that the software was robust. The court noted that during his tenure, steps were taken to eliminate duplication of faculty members.

Holding that there was no prima facie material to proceed against the petitioner, the court quashed the proceedings against him.