Lucknow: In a move that has sent ripples across Uttar Pradesh’s education fraternity, Pradeep Kumar Mishra has been relieved of his duties as vice-chancellor (V-C) of Lucknow’s Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU) three days after he constituted a four-member panel to probe allegations against former AKTU V-C Vinay Pathak.
Mishra was appointed V-C of AKTU, UP’s premier varsity for technical education, in January 2022. Pathak is the current V-C of Chhatrapati Shahu Ji Maharaj University (CSJM), Kanpur.
A communique by the Raj Bhavan dated 4 February conveyed that Mishra had been attached to the office of the V-C of Dr Shakuntala Misra National Rehabilitation University in Lucknow. As Governor of Uttar Pradesh, Anandiben Patel is the ex-officio chancellor of all state universities.
Mishra submitted his resignation letter Tuesday and Raj Bhavan accepted it the same day. An order issued by the governor, a copy of which is with ThePrint, mentions that his resignation has been accepted and that Lucknow University V-C Alok Rai has been given additional charge of AKTU till further orders or the appointment of a new V-C.
Questioning Mishra’s transfer, a number of prominent academicians from the state are demanding a fair probe against Pathak, who continues to serve as V-C of CSJM, Kanpur, despite being under investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over charges of corruption, fake regularisation of staff and misappropriation of funds, among others.
Three of his alleged accomplices were arrested by the UP Special Task Force (STF) last year.
Mishra had constituted an inquiry committee to probe the charges against Pathak on 1 February at the direction of the University Grants Commission (UGC), documents accessed by ThePrint show.
In a letter to the AKTU V-C dated 21 November 2022, the UGC had directed him to “provide a detailed report” on the allegations against CSJM V-C Pathak. Acting on the same, Mishra — in an order dated 1 February 2023 — constituted a four-member committee under the chairmanship of retired Allahabad HC judge Pramod Kumar Srivastava to probe the charges.
According to varsity documents accessed by ThePrint, the committee was directed to focus its probe on 13 aspects pertaining to Pathak’s tenure as AKTU V-C and his academic credentials.
Among the aspects under probe were decisions taken by him over the varsity’s e-consortium, wrongful investment of varsity funds in private housing funds, “wrongful investment of Rs 100 crore in secret works of examination”, fake regularisation of staff and “fake payments for construction work”, besides decisions taken in the varsity’s executive council and financial committee during his tenure.
ThePrint reached Kalpana Awasthi, Principal Secretary to the UP governor, via calls and messages but did not receive a response at the time of publication and calls to Pradeep Mishra went unanswered. This report will be updated when a response is received.
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Why was Mishra removed as AKTU V-C
The Raj Bhavan communique, a copy of which was seen by ThePrint, says Mishra was removed as V-C of AKTU pending an inquiry constituted by the governor’s office into allegations levelled against him by Anurag Tripathi and Vineet Kansal, both professors of a constituent college of the varsity.
As AKTU V-C, Mishra had removed Kansal as director of the Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET), Lucknow, in January this year after a three-member panel found that the latter did not have the necessary qualifications.
ThePrint reached Kansal via calls but did not receive a response at the time of publication. This report will be updated when a response is received.
Tripathi, on the other hand, resigned as AKTU’s controller of examination (COE) last year. His resignation was accepted in December 2022.
Subsequently, the Raj Bhavan — acting on complaints by Kansal and Tripathi — ordered a preliminary inquiry on 26 January under retired Allahabad HC judge S.N. Agnihotri to probe the alleged irregularities.
In an order issued last month, a copy of which is with ThePrint, the Raj Bhavan had directed AKTU V-C Mishra and registrar Sachin Kumar Singh to provide documents to aid the inquiry and ensure availability of officials, faculty and employees as and when designated by the probe committee.
Regarding his complaint against Mishra, Tripathi said it concerned the alleged non-issuance of the tender for digital evaluation of exam papers and the delay in selecting contractors for result processing.
The result processing agency contracted by AKTU was found to have links in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (SSSC) graduate-level recruitment exam paper leak case and Mishra as V-C had allegedly directed varsity officials not to process the payment owed to the agency for contractual work.
“After the name of the result processing agency appeared in media reports about the UKSSSC, I wrote a letter to the registrar and V-C that it should be taken into consideration though we didn’t find any fault of the agency. The selection of a new agency was delayed and payment was stopped to the previous agency,” Tripathi claimed.
He added, “The agency was getting frustrated and on 17 November 2022, it said it was stopping work. I informed (V-C) about it and on 14 December 2022, some persons were chosen to carry out the work for 89 days.”
A source in the AKTU said payments to the result processing company were stopped after media reports hinted at its ties with those accused in the UKSSSC paper leak. “Payments were stopped after an internal probe found that the agency was involved in irregularities. The company which carried out work before 2015 and was removed by Pathak, was given the work for 89 days because results had to be prepared,” the source said.
‘Unjust, without proper hearing’
Sources in the AKTU faculty termed Mishra’s transfer as “unjust”, and drew parallels between the pace at which action is being taken against him and Pathak. Pathak continues to hold his post but Mishra has been discharged of his duties “without a proper hearing”, said one AKTU official.
“It is highly unfortunate that the action came without a proper hearing. It only reflects double standards as there has been no action against someone who continues to face a CBI probe (Pathak).
“The V-C had constituted a four-member inquiry committee to probe 13 kinds of allegations including misappropriation of university funds, plagiarism and fake regularisation of staff during the regime of former V-C Vinay Pathak on the directions of the UGC. The action came even before that committee could start probing the allegations,” said the varsity official who did not wish to be named.
Another senior AKTU official said on condition of anonymity that Mishra’s transfer came close on the heels of the constitution of an inquiry committee to probe allegations against Pathak on the directions of UGC and the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) which had received complaints against Pathak.
In addition to the AKTU faculty, Mishra’s transfer has also elicited a sharp reaction from former V-Cs and academicians.
Speaking to ThePrint, Dr Ashok Kumar, former V-C of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gorakhpur University said at the time of a V-C’s appointment, the candidate has to fill in a proforma in which one has to mention if there is any judicial, criminal or any other inquiry pending against the person. “If the information about a pending inquiry is not given at the time of an appointment and the government finds out later, it amounts to falsification,” said Dr Kumar.
Dr Kumar, who has also served as V-C of Kanpur’s CSJM University and the Shri Kallaji Vedic Vishvavidyalaya in Rajasthan’s Chittorgarh, added, “A person (Pathak) who is also facing a CBI probe and has been booked by the UP STF, continues to serve (as V-C). This shows that there is something behind the protection given to such a person. There has to be some logic for the protection. There are so many allegations being reported by the media against a V-C. If the governor’s office does not trust the media, it should at least conduct a fair probe on its own. Where is the fairness of the probe in this situation?”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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