E-Paper
Graft case: CBI lodges FIR against Kanpur varsity VC
The central investigating agency lodged the FIR on January 7 at its New Delhi office days after the Uttar Pradesh government recommended to the Centre a CBI probe against Prof Pathak
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has lodged an FIR against vice chancellor of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University (CSMU), Kanpur, Prof Vinay Pathak on charges of criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery, demand and acceptance of undue advantage among others.
The central investigating agency lodged the FIR on January 7 at its New Delhi office days after the Uttar Pradesh government recommended to the Centre a CBI probe against Prof Pathak.
Additional superintendent of police, CBI/AC-II/New Delhi, RR Tripathi lodged the FIR and the probe will be conducted by inspector, CBI, SBS Amarnath.
The FIR was lodged under several sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988. According to the FIR, offences were committed in Lucknow, Agra, Kanpur and other places. Till date, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UPSTF) was investigating the case. During the probe, it had arrested three people. However, it failed to trace Pathak.
The state government had recommended the CBI probe after analysing seriousness and gravity of the allegations against such a senior authority, said a senior official of the state government. The STF has already arrested Ajay Mishra, Ajay Jain and Mishra’s associate Santosh Kumar Singh, who is a resident of Sultanpur.
Corruption allegations against Prof Pathak came to light after David Mario Denis, the operator of a firm involved in conducting examinations at the Agra University when Pathak was the officiating V-C of the university in 2014-15, lodged an FIR against Pathak and his close aide Ajay Mishra.
In the FIR lodged at Indira Nagar police station in Lucknow on October 31 last year, Denis accused Pathak and his aides of holding him captive and torturing him for not paying them commission to clear bills worth ₹1.4 crore.
Later, the STF added sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, against Pathak, who is also accused of demanding bribe during his tenure as the V-C of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Agra.
The Enforcement Directorate has already collected details of the FIR and evidence that surfaced during the investigation by the STF.
