The CBI has registered a criminal case against former Vice-Chancellor of Viswa Bharati University, Shantiniketan, S Duttagupta, in connection with alleged irregularities in the appointment of a deputy registrar and conducted searches at five premises of the accused persons.
The agency had registered the case against the Vice- Chancellor of the then Registrar D Gunasekaran (Presently Registrar, IIT, Bhubaneswar); Finance Officer AP Trivedi and Deputy Registrar Shyamala Ray Nair under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) and revenant provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, official sources said.
The FIR alleges that Duttagupta, in connivance with other accused officials, appointed Shyamala Ray Nair as Deputy Registrar illegally in violation of UGC guidelines.
“It was alleged that the said officials entered into a criminal conspiracy amongst themselves and in pursuance thereof, a Deputy Registrar was appointed in the University in violation of the laid down UGC Rules as the said Deputy Registrar did not meet the educational criteria and had an age above the maximum age limit by at least 7 years,” the CBI said in a statement.
The agency conducted the searches on Tuesday on five premises in Shantiniketan, including two in Kolkata (West Bengal) and two premises in Bhubaneswar (Odisha) which led to recovery of relevant “incriminating” documents, the agency added.
Searches continued till late in the evening and further investigation is continuing. CBI sources said the case was registered following a reference from the Centre.
The prestigious university was founded by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore.