While Michigan Student Assembly Vice President Probir Mehta waited outside assembly chambers last night, his colleagues voted to take away Mehta's signing privileges for the remainder of his term.
The assembly also issued a reprimand based on the premise that Mehta did not immediately report a $500 allocation he signed in early September for the United Asian American Organization without assembly approval.
"I feel the punishment fit the violation," said Engineering Rep. Mark Dub, who chaired the select investigative committee that looked into Mehta's actions. "As a committee, we wanted to present an iron-clad report which would be passed and be based strictly on the facts of the case."
At the time the allocation was made, MSA did not have the quorom needed to vote on whether to approve the allocation.
The committee also found that Mehta did not violate the ethics portion of the MSA Compiled Code. The assembly retroactively approved the $500 allocation.
The funding will come from MSA's committee discretionary fund.
"That's more of principle," Dub said. "It says that we're not using our operations account to fund student groups."
Dub's report last night came two weeks after the assembly voted to begin an investigation.
Mehta said he was relieved to have the investigation come to an end, but added that he would have liked to see some suggestions made to avoid similar situations in the future.
Mehta suggested that lowering quorum requirements during the summer months or providing student groups with information about the assembly's summer allocation procedures may help prevent similar situations in the future.
"Although my procedure was incorrect, my intentions were in the right place, and the committee said the same thing," Mehta said.
"It's not the best feeling in the world to be the subject of intense scrutiny for something that has been openly and honestly admitted to, but I look forward to serving students in the future and I always have to the best of my ablity," he said.
Mehta added that the report is "basically everything I've said in written form."
Dub said the committee reached a unanimous and successful conclusion.
"We took each charge and answered it based upon the MSA Constitution and the Compiled Code," Dub said. "I feel this investigation went really well."
Mehta said that he has not signed for any financial disbursements since early February, when his actions were first scrutinized.
LSA Rep. Andy Schor, who proposed the formation of the investigative committee, said the assembly's decisions will give future MSA representatives a model to refer to in the future.
"This is the one time MSA sets precedence," Schor said, adding that the assembly has acted responsibly. "I think the general premise of what I wanted is what the assembly passed tonight."
Mehta said MSA representatives can sometimes get caught up in issues involving other assembly members, such as forming an investigative committee, especially during election season.
"People who really looked for ways to politically hurt other people do so through these types of redundant commitees," Mehta said. "This is a chapter in my life I would like to close."