Reliable sources said the Governor has issued instructions to the Additional Chief Secretary Harsh Gupta to withhold the inquiry proceedings since Khosla had already filed a Special Leave Petition (SPL) in the Supreme Court against recent orders of the state high court. Gupta, who had already started the inquiry yesterday sent a communication to the university at Palampur informing it about the deferment.

The inquiry officer last week had summoned the V-C, currently under suspension, along with some officials on January 21 for evidence.``Because of latest instructions received from the Raj Bhawan, I have deferred the inquiry proceedings,'' Gupta said when contacted by ENS here.

Khosla was placed under suspension by the Governor on January 9 last following high court orders against him in a case relating to irregularities in the admissions made by the university in some professional courses. The Governor, while acting on orders of the high court, had suspended Khosla and ordered a high-level probe against him. Khosla, however, had gone to the Supreme Court against high court orders.