CBI case against former VC of Viswa Bharati University
24th May, 2016
The CBI has registered a case against the former Vice
Chancellor of the Viswa Bharati University, Sushanta Kumar Duttagupta and four
others for allegedly flouting University Grants Commission rules in the
appointment of a Deputy Registrar.
The FIR is based on information that the agency received
alleging that, these officials entered into a criminal conspiracy to appoint Shyamala
Ray Nair as the Deputy Registrar of the University in violation of UGC
guidelines. The case sights Nair not meeting the required educational criteria
and exceeding the maximum fixed age by at least 7 years.
The case has been registered under sections 120B of IPC read
with 13(2) read with 13(1) (D) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.The
respective sections dealing with the offences of criminal conspiracy and
criminal misconduct by a public servant.
Duttagupta was sacked by President Pranab Mukherjee in
February after a Home Ministry report on financial and administrative
irregularities at the university. His sacking was the first such instance of
sacking of a VC of a central university. The cause of such action was the
allegation that he was drawing a salary from Viswa Bharati University and a
pension from JNU simultaneously. The legal course he was obligated to take
instead, was to deduct the pension amount form the salary paid to him by the
Viswa Bharati University. Subsequently he challenged the legality of the
ministry’s fact finding committee but his petition was dismissed by the
Calcutta High Court.
The prestigious central university was founded by Nobel
laureate Rabindranath Tagore and boasts of alumni such as Satyajit Ray and
Amartya Sen. It is sad to see that even institutions such as Viswa Bharati are
plagued by the menace of corruption.Thank You,
Abhishek Misra
