At least 200 of the 221 students admitted to the three-year LLB (Honours) course in the Tamil Nadu Dr. Ambedkar Law University under the NRI quota between 2014 and 2017 had not submitted basic documents essential for admission, an investigation has revealed.
The Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption (DVAC), which is probing allegations of corruption and irregularities in the university, has unearthed serious violations in the admission of students made under the NRI quota. Among the students whose admission was found to not be in order is Vivek Jayaraman, son of J. Elavarasi, sister-in-law of V. K. Sasikala, a close aide of former Chief Minister Jayalalithaa.
The number of seats under the NRI quota was increased from 33 in 2014-15 to 103 to 2016-17.
“Rules mandated that candidates seeking admission under the NRI quota must submit 27 documents. This includes NRI status certificate issued by the Indian embassy of the respective country where the person sponsoring the student is a resident. The fees in US dollars should be paid from the account of the sponsoring person. In more than 200 cases, we found that there were violations,” a senior investigator told The Hindu on Tuesday.
In Mr. Vivek’s case, he had claimed that his uncle Palanirajan Rajarajan was the sponsor. DVAC officers said enquiries revealed that Mr. Rajarajan was holding an Indian passport and was employed in Singapore on a work permit. The fees were paid through a demand draft drawn on Standard Chartered Bank, New York, which was the international branch of City Union Bank.
Violations galore
“The money paid for the fees was not debited from the account of the sponsor. The relationship certificate to justify the claim of Mr. Vivek was issued by a notary public, who is not a competent authority in this case. This is a clear violation of the norms. Similar violations have been found in many other admissions made under NRI quota,” the official said.
Referring to a Supreme Court ruling, the official said seats under NRI quota should be utilised by non-resident Indians for their children or wards alone. While merit should not be given the go-by, the money collected as fees from NRI candidates should be used to benefit economically weaker students.
The DVAC had registered a case against six persons, including then Vice-Chancellor P. Vanangamudi, Registrar (in-charge) V. Balaji, Professor and Head of the Department (Department of Inter Disciplinary Studies) and Director, Distance Education, K.S. Sarwani and others.
Mr. Vanangamudi was accused of amassing “huge wealth” by corrupt and fraudulent means.
It was also alleged that fake visas and other documents were created to facilitate admissions under the 15% NRI quota. On the basis of preliminary inquiries, the agency said it appeared that the accused officials conspired to forge documents to make it appear as if the students were NRIs, thereby cheating the university. A sum of Rs. 25-30 lakh was received from each student seeking admission under the quota, the DVAC alleged.
Another official in the investigating agency said Mr. Vanangamudi had gone to Australia after obtaining the permission of the designated court.
On his return, one bank locker that was in the name of his wife would be opened. “Our investigation has reached a final stage. We will file the charge sheet after examining Mr. Vanangamudi and a few others,” the officer said.
