Nagpur varsity V-C faces forgery charge

Vilas Sapkal, vice-chancellor of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, is facing charges of forgery, conspiracy and cheating the government in order to secure the top academic job.

Vilas Sapkal, vice-chancellor of Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University, is facing charges of forgery, conspiracy and cheating the government in order to secure the top academic job.

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On Friday, Sunilkumar Mishra, an RTI activist and former chairman of the board of mass communication studies at Nagpur University, filed a complaint with the Malabar Hill police station as the Raj Bhavan (the governor is in charge of all universities in the state) comes under its jurisdiction. Mishra alleged that Sapkal forged information while applying for the job. Mishra has also named officials in the chancellor’s office as co-accused.

Sapkal, 50, a chemistry professor, took charge of the Nagpur office in September 2010. Mishra, who challenged the guidelines for appointing VCs in the state, sought information on Sapkal’s appointment, but no office – the governor’s in Mumbai, Nagpur University or Amravati University, where Sapkal worked last – gave him a copy of the document to prove Sapkal’s claim that he worked at the Mumbai-based Ion Exchange (India) Ltd as a chemical engineer between 1987 and 1988.

Mishra said, “Other than a stint at Ion Exchange, Sapkal lied about his job as a technical director in Sartorious, AG, the Mumbai office of the Germany based company. The governor’s office did not verify the information.”

Malabar Hill senior inspector Vinay Bagade told HT that the complaint would be investigated before converting it into an FIR.

Sapkal told HT the document was his private property and Mishra had no right to demand it. But he did not say why he had not given it to his employers. When HT asked Ion Exchange’s human resources head SK Rao, he said the company had no record of Sapkal’s tenure.

“I sought the governor’s intervention, but Raj Bhavan officials did not let me,” Mishra said.

The governor’s office said as Mishra had challenged the selection of vice-chancellors, including that of Sapkal, in the high court, they could not comment as the matter was sub judice.