An active member of the Swadeshi Science Movement has been suspended from the position of emeritus professor of the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT) owing to charges of publishing various reports using the same data.
Dr Nampoori is professor emeritus of International School of Photonics at CUSAT.
The syndicate meeting held on Saturday also decided to remove the director of the department Dr A Mujeeb.
The articles were co-authored by the duo along with two other researchers of the School of Photonics and published in the journal, Springer Publications Applied Physics.
According to a report that appeared in a Malayalam daily, Dr Nampoori is also reportedly a senior office-bearer of Vijnana Bharati, a wing of the RSS, which is affiliated with the Swadeshi Science Movement.
The Swadeshi Science Movement is aimed at fostering a multi-disciplinary approach to local problems and promotion of India’s scientific heritage, according to their Facebook page.
Readers complained about it following which the editor of the journal informed the CUSAT authorities. The editor reportedly first brought it to the notice of the School of Photonics, but since there was no response, the journal then put a note of caution on its website to advise its readers.
The syndicate has also formed a three-member committee to enquire into the incident. Dr Nampoori and Dr Mujeeb will remain suspended till the enquiry is completed.
Dr MK Jayaraj, professor department of Physics, Dr MR Prathachandra Kurup, Dean, Faculty of Science and Dr M Bhasi, School of Management Studies, are the members of the committee.
“We can’t take any prejudiced stand on this. Not only did the journal editor inform us but students of CUSAT also wrote letters to the faculty regarding this. I also have got a letter. Everybody must have got it. Prima facie, the allegations seem to be correct. The same data has been used for authoring various articles. But we won’t jump to any conclusion unless the enquiry is over,” said Dr Jayaraj.
A member of the Syndicate told The News Minute that they don’t call it plagiarism as the data used was not taken from anywhere else but the same data was used for writing various articles. “What came before us was the intimation from the editor of the journal and we have formed the committee to enquire about it. They have been temporality removed till the enquiry is over,” he said.
“The journal editor wrote a letter to CUSAT saying that the University should take this up. They have even put on their website that damage has been caused due to this. The articles were co-authored by four people of the department,” said Dr M Bhasi.
He added that the facts so far have not come before him as the committee is yet to conduct its first sitting.