E-Paper
Former V-C of Agra varsity booked for corruption
Pathak has been accused of demanding bribe during his tenure as the V-C of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Agra.
Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UPSTF) has now booked Vinay Kumar Pathak, the vice-chancellor (V-C) of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University (CSMU) in Kanpur, under various sections of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act, 1988.
Pathak has been accused of demanding bribe during his tenure as the V-C of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Agra.
Initially, Pathak was booked on the charges of extortion and torturing, holding captive and threatening a person. A senior STF officer said the officials proceeded with the investigation after Pathak did not respond to the notices sent to him. “Pathak has now been booked under the PC Act, 1988 on the basis of statements of Ajay Mishra and Ajay Jain (his aides), as well as other evidence that surfaced supporting the alleged corrupt practices of Pathak,” the official added.
On October 29, one David Mario Denise, the operator of a firm involved in conducting examinations at the Agra university, had lodged an FIR with the Lucknow police against Pathak and his close aide Ajay Mishra for holding the former captive and torturing him for not paying them the commission to clear bills worth ₹1.4 crore. Pathak was the officiating V-C of the university when the alleged incident took place.
The next day, STF arrested Mishra, who played the mediator’s role in demanding a commission from Denise. Pathak’s other alleged associate Ajay Jain was arrested on November 6. Despite the STF sending notices to Pathak to appear at the STF headquarters in Lucknow to record his statement in the case, he did not turn up.
The STF official said the unit raided Mishra’s printing press, where question papers of examinations conducted by Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University and the Agra university were printed irrespective of which agency or firm had won the contract to hold the examinations. He added this was done in violation of the norms.
Meanwhile, several anomalies related to the recruitment of outsourcing staff at Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow between August 2015 and August 2021 have surfaced during the investigation. Pathak was the institution’s V-C in the said period.
