Saturday, July 5, 2014

Illegal wealth case registered by CBI against former Vice-Chancellor of an Indian university

Some sad, but at the same time, good news on corruption in Indian academia front. Today's The Hindu carries a report stating that the Indian Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) which plays a roughly similar role to the one that Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) plays in the USA, "has registered a case against N.S. Gajbhiye, former vice-chancellor of Harisingh Gour Central University at Sagar in Madhya Pradesh, for allegedly amassing illegal wealth worth over Rs.2.54 crore." [Rs. 2.54 crore is Rs. 25.4 million which is approx. US $ 0.423 million i.e. US $ 423,000.] It also states, "According to the FIR, Mr. Gajbhiye was in possession of disproportionate assets amounting to Rs.2.54 crore in his name and his family members’ during the period under scrutiny, March 2009 to May 2014." Source: http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/cbi-books-former-vc-for-disproportionate-assets/article6178177.ece

Dr. Gajbhiye obtained his Ph.D. (in Chemistry it seems) from the prestigious Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) in 1981 and is with the Department of Chemistry of the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, http://www.iitk.ac.in/chm/nsg.html. His Vice-chancellor stints seem to be like deputations from IIT Kanpur, after which he returned back to IIT Kanpur.

The sad part is that CBI had to register a case of corruption/disproportionate assets against an academic from the prestigious IISc and IITs. However, Dr. Gajbhiye is innocent until proven guilty - it remains to be seen whether CBI will be able to prove its case in a court of law. The good news part is that CBI is willing to probe corruption charges against top academic administrators like vice-chancellors even if they hail from prestigious academic institutions like IISc and IITs. This will send a clear signal to those top academic administrators as well as other academics who indulge in malpractices and corruption that they could face the full force of Indian law which may result in them being sent to jail and their career getting completely destroyed. That should act as a deterrent for such corrupt actions.

If you would like to read more about complaints made against Dr. Gajbhiye, here is another report dated 28th October 2013 from a mainstream media outlet, http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bhopal/Rs-1000-cr-scam-rocks-Sagar-Central-University-CBI-begins-probe/articleshow/24789023.cms. It states, "The university vice-chancellor N S Gajbiye is allegedly embroiled in a scam involving siphoning off Rs 1000-crore of Central funds and committing irregularities in recruitment of professors over five years." [Rs. 1,000 crore = Rs. 10,000 million which is approx. US $ 166.67 million using exchange rate of Rs. 60 for 1 US $.]

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