AMU V-C guilty or innocent?

The two judges of a Presidential panel probing corruption allegations against the Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor have submitted diametrically opposite findings, leaving the government embarrassed.

The two judges of a Presidential panel probing corruption allegations against the Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor have submitted diametrically opposite findings, leaving the government embarrassed.

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Probe panel chairman Justice BA Khan has exonerated PK Abdul Azis on key charges of financial impropriety while his colleague — Justice AN Divecha — has found Azis guilty on the same charges. The two judges submitted separate, contradictory findings — instead of a consolidated report they were required to finalise — to HRD minister Kapil Sibal on Monday, sources have told HT.

Justice Divecha, former judge at the Gujarat High Court, found Azis guilty of misuse of university funds for personal and family trips. But Justice Khan, former chief justice of J&K HC found Azis innocent of illegalities and at most responsible for administrative irregularities.

Their submissions are an interim report since the judges are yet to examine other allegations against Azis, but the sharp divisions are likely to make it impossible for the probe panel to continue. Justice Divecha — as was first reported by HT on December 11, 2010 — had asked the HRD ministry to relieve him from the probe, accusing AMU of deliberately lying to delay the enquiry.

The divide between the probe judges is embarrassing for the government since it has spent over R50 lakh on the enquiry which has now yielded no decisive verdict.

President Pratibha Patil first set up a two-member probe against Azis in February 2009. The panel was dissolved after open bickering between the two members. The panel of Justices Khan and Divecha was set up last year with a mandate to submit its report in three months.