Alan Garber has found himself at the centre of what’s an intense battle between the US’s most powerful institution – the president’s office – and academia.

USAC announced the termination of Whitaker, Nijjar and Gona in February this year after their ethics committee corroborated the charges of ‘wreaking havoc on other board directors, including by disrupting meetings, ignoring their obligations, breaching confidentiality, publicising false allegations about the board and putting their interests above the organizations’ leveled against the trio.

“As the Constitution does not contemplate on a timeline, guidelines on timeline should’ve been avoided in my personal view. Mandating the President is not correct in my view and could’ve been avoided, Article 142 doesn’t give you the power to mandate the Hon’ble President,” said former SC judge Justice Rastogi