LG orders ACB probe against four over funds embezzlement in Delhi govt school

In November 2018, during an audit of a school in Mansarovar Park, the audit team found discrepancies in the salaries paid to guest teachers. The audit had revealed that between April 2016 and March 2018, salaries were paid to three guest teachers whose names did not exist on the rolls of the school.

Delhi lieutenant governor (LG) Vinai Kumar Saxena on Thursday granted permission to the anti-corruption branch (ACB) to file a case against two serving and two retired vice-principals of a Delhi government school for allegedly embezzling government fund, officials aware of the development said. Apart from the probe against the four officials, the ACB will also examine the extent of the scam, identity of the beneficiaries and examine if such a fraud existed in other schools too.

New Delhi: Delhi Lieutenant Governor VK Saxena at an awareness session on World Hepatitis Day, at Parliament Annexe, in New Delhi, Thursday, July 28, 2022. (PTI Photo/Kamal Kishore) (PTI07_28_2022_000020A) (PTI)

In November 2018, during an audit of a school in Mansarovar Park, the audit team found discrepancies in the salaries paid to guest teachers. The audit had revealed that between April 2016 and March 2018, salaries were paid to three guest teachers whose names did not exist on the rolls of the school. One of the teachers to whom the money was paid was the wife of a vice-principal. The audit team had then informed the ACB, following which the anti-graft unit had moved the vigilance department seeking a permission to investigate the case.

The ACB had earlier filed cases against four directorate of education officials. While probing the case, the role of four more people came to light -- retired vice-principals Chhote Lal Shastri and Satyendar Kumar Sharma, and serving vice-principals Rajiv Kumar and Ravinder Kumar Jathav.

To be sure, for the ACB to probe cases under section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act, the unit requires an approval from the vigilance department and then the lieutenant governor. In cases where the person is caught red-handed or has disproportionate assets, the approval is not needed.

A senior ACB official said they are in the process of filing a first information report (FIR). “The permission has been granted. We will question the people named in the FIR and examine the role of other people in this case. We will also check who are the beneficiaries and the involvement of other officials in the education department.”

Officials at the directorate of education could not be reached for any comment despite repeated messages and calls.

An official in the LG’s office said, “The audit showed that a payment of ₹4,21,656 was made to three persons -- Samiksha Arya ( ₹1,35,900), Uma Shastri ( ₹1,42,078) and Chottey Lal ( ₹1,43,678) -- despite the fact that none of them were appointed in the school. In fact, one of them, Uma Shastri was the wife of vice-principal Chhotey Lal Shastri. This case brings to fore the modus operandi of fraudulently taking money in the name of guest teachers, also called ghost teachers because they do not exist. The LG office received a report from the vigilance department and has granted permission to file FIR against the four officials.”

Guest teachers are hired on a contractual basis on daily wages at many schools across the city, where vacancies are yet to be permanently filled. Unlike regular teachers, guest teachers are not entitled to some emoluments such as leaves, provident fund etc. Until the pandemic in 2020, there were nearly 22,000 guest teachers across the city.