A fresh inquiry has been ordered into the alleged financial irregularities by senior officials including Vice-Chancellor of Aligarh Muslim University P. K. Abdul Azis by the President of India, official sources said on Friday.
Pratibha Patil in her capacity as the ‘Visitor’ of the university has re-constituted the inquiry panel and ordered a fresh probe after the two-member committee earlier formed failed to submit its report.
The new inquiry committee includes retired Justice Bashir Ahmed Khan of the Delhi High Court and retired Justice Akbar N. Divecha of the Gujarat High Court and has been given a period of two months to submit its report, the sources added.
Earlier, in July last year the President had formed a two-member panel comprising Justice Fakhruddin retired Justice of the Madhya Pradesh High Court and A. H. Jung, former Secretary to the Government of India to probe the charges and submit its report within three months.
However, the panel failed to submit its report as its members resigned in October. Mr. Jung in his resignation had said that university authorities were “not cooperating” in the inquiry.
A report submitted by the Principal Accountant General of Uttar Pradesh to the HRD Ministry had acknowledged the financial irregularities in the university and charged the VC of indulging in financial irregularity on matters relating to travel allowance claims and “unauthorised purchase of car worth Rs. 12.5 lakh.”
“There is a complete collapse of financial management in the university and the VC and the Registrar instead of stopping this frequent financial irregularity themselves became a part of this,” it said.
The report further gave details about the “irregular purchase” of furniture for the Vice Chancellors lodge to which it said the university gave undue benefit to a supplier by “not only violating the purchase and financial rules but also incurred an extra expenditure of Rs. 32.5 lakhs.”
On an another charge pertaining to irregular civil work, the report mentioned that “The University not only gave undue benefits to selective contractors but also incurred an excess of Rs 24.34 lakhs over the cost of two agreements by arranging funds improperly.”
