U.P. governor suspends AKTU registrar facing financial anomalies charges
Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel has ordered suspension of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) registrar Sachin Kumar Singh with immediate effect following serious allegations of financial irregularities against him
Uttar Pradesh governor Anandiben Patel has ordered suspension of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) registrar Sachin Kumar Singh with immediate effect following serious allegations of financial irregularities against him. The suspended registrar did not respond to the phone calls made to him.
On February 4, the governor had removed AKTU vice chancellor Prof Pradeep Kumar Mishra who later resigned from the post. He also faced similar allegations.
The governor in an order dated March 24 (Friday) formed a three-member final enquiry committee to conduct a probe into the misconducts of Sachin Kumar Singh as had been found to be prima facie proved in the preliminary enquiry report dated March 20, 2023 of the enquiry judge RC Mishra.
During Singh’s suspension period, the acting vice-chancellor of AKTU, Lucknow, shall hand over the charge of the registrar’s office to some other officer, the order says.
According to the governor, there have been many complaints against Singh. Prof. Anurag Tripathi, ex-controller of examinations, AKTU, made a complaint to the technical education minister on dated March 22 last year, levelling serious allegations against Singh regarding commission of financial bungling and maladministration etc by him in connivance with the then AKTU VC prof Pradeep Kumar Mishra.
The minister referred the aforesaid complaint of Anurag Tripathi to the governor along with his covering letter for action thereon. Another complaint by Prof Vineet Kansal, ex-director, Institute of Engineering and Technology, Lucknow dated January 12, 2023 to governor levelled somewhat similar allegations against registrar and the then VC.
The technical education minister sent one more complaint dated February 19, 2023 received by him against Singh and former AKTU VC prof Mishra from another complainant KK Rawat, senior advocate, district & sessions court, Barabanki, to the governor.
As alleged in the said complaints, Singh, in collusion with the former VC, committed huge bungling of funds in the items like construction of roads on the campus of the Institute of Engineering & Technology, Lucknow, a constituent college of the university, in assigning the repairs work of two hostels of the constituent college, by engaging a Lucknow-based firm in granting approval for payments contrary to financial rules in unauthorisedly enhancing the expenditure to be incurred towards construction of dilapidated boundary of the Institute of Engineering & Technology, acting in gross violation of statutory provisions governing the university, abusing his powers and position conferred on him by the Act and Regulation of the University to his own advantage and spreading maladministration etc in the university.
A complaint has also been made by Prof JP Pandey, the incumbent VC of Madan Mohan Malaviya University of Technology, Gorakhpur, levelling allegations against Singh that he had procured a false complaint via e-mail from one Manish Mishra with the allegations that the PhD degree obtained by Prof JP Pandey from the Academic Council of AKTU, Lucknow, in 2006 was suspicious and invalid and that Singh was throughout involved in maligning the image of Prof Pandey and the vice chancellors of other state universities and thereby spoiling the academic atmosphere on the campuses of the concerned universities.
Considering the serious nature of allegations, a preliminary enquiry (fact finding enquiry) was formed by appointing RC Mishra as the enquiry judge and submit his report to governor. In the 25-page preliminary enquiry report, various allegations against AKTU registrar Singh were found to be prima facie true.
