The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered six cases of cheating and corruption against several officials, including an assistant director, of the All India Council for Technical Education, the treasurer of a Gwalior-based institution and trustees of several Tamil Nadu-based engineering colleges.
In the first case, the agency has booked assistant director G.S. Negi and convenor of the AICTE expert committee Alok Jain, the treasurer and authorised signatory of the Gwalior-based Shiksha Prasar Samiti, and the others on charges of corruption and entering into a conspiracy to commit cheating.
According to the CBI, it is alleged that earlier this year, the assistant director abused his official position along with the treasurer of Shiksha Prasar Samiti by giving clearance to the institution, concealing the fact that its land and the college building had been mortgaged with the Punjab National Bank against a loan of Rs.40 lakh.
Simultaneous searches were conducted at various trusts and engineering colleges at Nagercoil, Adayalampattu, Irungattukottai, Koyambedu and Dharmapuri, besides residences of the management of the colleges in connection with the remaining five cases.
A CBI official said the institutions under scrutiny were allegedly being run in violation of the norms set by the AICTE and that they obtained approvals and extensions in connivance with certain unscrupulous AICTE officials.
The modus operandi included showing forged, false and non-existent fixed deposits in the name of the trusts and fraudulently showing land as owned by the trusts in question.
Investigations revealed that the institutions allegedly did not have the academic and other infrastructures for students as prescribed by the AICTE.
“During the search, a large number of documents indicating irregularities in the infrastructure, such as building, library and laboratory facilities, violation of faculty and other norms fixed by the AICTE were seized. Approvals and recognitions were given in spite of the adverse opinion of the expert committee,” he added.
