Meanwhile, an unsigned press statement released by the ‘executive’ late today evening read, “The letter of Dr M S Mahal, President PAUTA, has been accepted whereby he has relinquished the post citing personal reasons and his official commitments. The executive has co-opted Dr G S Saroa as the PAUTA president for the remaining period of the present term as per the provisions of its Constitution, inscribed under point Miscellaneous (ix) part (3) - vacation of the office, whereby it is stated that any vacancy arising during the term of the executive committee shall be filled in by co-option by the committee for the remaining period of the term from among the members of the committee for the rest of the term.”

The statement adds that Dr Harpreet Singh has been co-opted as joint secretary due to the vacancy created by co-opting Dr G S Saroa as PAUTA president. “The executive puts on record its appreciation of the contributions made by Dr M S Mahal for the association, especially his commitment to make PAUTA a truly democratic body and work for the welfare of teachers,” the statement goes on to add.

Vice-president Dr B S Sohal, when contacted, said, “As per the provisions of the PAUTA Act, a general secretary can only call for a meeting in consultation with the president and in the latter’s absence, the vice-president. No one consulted me on this issue. I was asked to come for the meeting today and when I expressed that I can not attend the meeting due to some official work, general secretary Mukesh Saig said that it was fine.”

When probed over the cause of the rift, Dr Sohal said, “The basic issue is that Dr Mahal wanted PAUTA to initiate a dialogue with Vice-Chancellor Dr Kang rather than getting into a confrontation contrary to what Saig desired. Dr Kang has always given PAUTA a patient hearing and there is no reason to confront him.”

It is also been learnt that the language used by Mukesh Saig while drafting PAUTA’s letters to the V-C is another cause of the fallout between Mahal and Saig. Mahal often objected to the general secretary’s choice of harsh words, according to sources.

Meanwhile, with the split wide open in the ruling group, rival factions comprising senior PAU faculty members led by Dr S K Singla, Dr A S Joshi, Dr Jaspal Singh, Dr Amarjeet Singh and others are demanding an emergency general body meeting be called and the faculty be apprised of the situation.