LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF) has decided to again serve a notice to Vinay Kumar Pathak, the vice-chancellor (V-C) of Kanpur-based Chhatrapati Shahuji Maharaj University (CSMU), to summon him for questioning in connection with the graft case lodged against him. The proposed development comes after he did not appear before the STF despite the investigating agency sending a notice asking him to turn up at the STF headquarters in Lucknow on November 18.
A senior STF officer said that the second notice will be served at his official Kanpur university residence by an inspector rank officer. He said the inspector has also been directed to question the employees of the V-C residence. The designated cop will also question the staff at his residence as to how they get in touch with the accused V-C when he is not home and they claim to be unaware of his whereabouts.
The V-C has remained elusive since a case has been lodged against him. Earlier, Pathak had sent an e-mail to the STF headquarters expressing his inability to appear for questioning before November 25 saying he is seriously ill. According to the STF officer, this suggested that the employees somehow managed to pass on information to the VC about the notice served at his official residence but feigned ignorance when the STF team questioned them about his whereabouts. It means that either the employees are aware of his whereabouts and passing on information to him or they are in touch with a person in direct contact with the V-C.
The official said the notice will also contain a warning for initiating further legal proceedings against him if he did not appear for the questioning at the earliest. The STF had issued the first notice to Pathak on November 16 soon after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday rejected his plea to quash the case against him.
{{/usCountry}}The official said the notice will also contain a warning for initiating further legal proceedings against him if he did not appear for the questioning at the earliest. The STF had issued the first notice to Pathak on November 16 soon after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court on Tuesday rejected his plea to quash the case against him.
{{/usCountry}}Notably, Pathak has been accused of demanding a hefty commission from an agency to clear its bills worth ₹1.4 crore when he was the officiating V-C of Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar University in Agra. The bills were for services obtained by Agra University from the complainant’s firm in conducting examinations.
Later, several other anomalies surfaced during the investigation related to the recruitment of outsourcing staff during Pathak’s tenure as the V-C of Dr APJ Abdul Kalam Technical University in Lucknow between August 2015 and August 2021 as well. However, no police action was taken against Pathak despite an FIR being lodged against him at the Indira Nagar police station of Lucknow on October 28. Nonetheless, the police did arrest two other co-accused -- Ajay Mishra on October 30 and Ajay Jain on November 6.