Roster scam petitioner alleges judiciary was misled

Times of India: Nagpur: Wednesday, 28 January 2015.

In an interesting twist to the Nagpur University's roster (job manuals) scam case, the petitioner has accused police commissioner and Sitabuldi police of allegedly misleading the Nagpur bench of Bombay High Court by submitting a false affidavit with a view to protect the guilty persons. On Tuesday, Sunil Mishra submitted a counter affidavit while attaching documents obtained under the RTI to support his claims.

The scam was first exposed by TOI on March 19, 2009, following which NU had blocked all appointments. It was kept under the wraps by then NU administration apprehending that over 500 appointments could get cancelled if roster is corrected and properly implemented. TOI ran a series exposing how NU officials were sitting on the various reports confirming the big scam in job manuals.

While citing a confidential enquiry report of then superintendent with anti-corruption bureau (ACB) Vilas Deshmukh, submitted in 2009, Mishra said it confirmed large-scale irregularities by the NU officials while filling up Class I to IV posts. It mentioned that Maharashtra government had made it mandatory to verify all appointments from its General Administration Department (GAD), but NU failed to do so from 1997 to 2009.

The report named then vice chancellor SN Pathan who didn't provide information on irregularities but other senior officials confirmed that many illegal appointments took place.

Mishra attached a letter of then deputy commissioner (ACB) Sandip Diwan to his DGP on August 31, 2009, seeking permission to conduct an open enquiry in the irregularities.

Accusing the Sitabuldi police of deliberately suppressing the crucial information, he pointed out that NU had constituted a panel under Justice (retired) GG Loney to probe the scam following queries raised by former leader of opposition in council Pandurang Fundkar, ex-MLC Nitin Gadkari (Now union minister), Ashok Mankar and MLA Vikas Kumbhare demanding clarification from the government on the scam.

Loney had also confirmed tampering in the job manuals while terming it as a "big conspiracy". He named former assistant registrar who confessed to tampering and even admitted it in writing. The panel had recommended then ex-VC Vilas Sapkal to lodge FIR for detailed probe into the scam, but it was kept under wraps for these years.

Mishra also cited confidential report (first exposed by TOI on January 1, 2011) of ex-principal secretary PS Meena that the appointments of 12 NU teachers were completely illegal and passed strictures on the NU top brass. Sapkal then constituted another panel of deputy registrar with North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, RJ Valvi, who also endorsed same action. Later, former minister of higher and technical education Rajesh Tope asked Sapkal to initiate probe, which never took off.

The pro-VC Maheshkumar Yenkie issued a show cause notice to finance officer Puran Meshram, who was then in-charge of NU's backward class cell, on September 3, 2011, for an explanation on Meena's startling recommendations and with a warning of action, which never became a reality till date.