CBI case against former VC of Viswa Bharati University

CBI case against former VC of Viswa Bharati University

24^th 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