New Delhi: The ongoing tussle between the administration and the founding society of the Pune-based Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) escalated over the weekend after the society’s secretary was arrested for fraud, misappropriation of funds, and cheating. The arrest followed a complaint filed by the institute’s officiating deputy registrar.
According to officials in the institute and Servants of India Society (SIS), which founded the GIPE, Milind Deshmukh was taken into custody Saturday, produced before a magistrate court in Pune Sunday, and later arrested.
This comes days after a controversy over the appointment of Sanjeev Sanyal, a member of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM), as the institute’s chancellor.
Sanyal was removed from the role last week over what the SIS said was the institute’s “downfall” and poor ranking by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), claiming that Sanyal had failed to take any concrete steps to address the issues.
On Saturday, however, SIS reversed its decision, attributing it to a “misunderstanding”, and urged Sanyal to continue as the chancellor.
The same day, in a series of posts on X, Sanyal rejected the SIS’s allegations against him, highlighting that it no longer provides financial support and instead collects rent from the institute.
He also shared several documents, including a letter dated 12 December 2022, in which Deshmukh requested former GIPE vice chancellor Ajit Ranade for monetary support of approximately Rs. 1.5 crores to change the “leasehold” status of land owned by SIS in Nagpur to “freehold”.
Providing funds for this would be a clear violation of the University Grants Commission (UGC) norms under which the university operates, officiating deputy registrar Vishal Gaikwad told ThePrint.
GIPE has been making headlines since last year when, in September, a fact-finding committee—constituted by GIPE’s former chancellor, the late Bibek Debroy—removed economist Ranade as vice chancellor, claiming his candidacy violated the UGC norms. After Ranade secured a high court stay, Debroy resigned as chancellor.
However, in November 2024, Ranade also stepped down, citing “personal reasons”.
The allegations against SIS secretary
According to media reports, the First Information Report against Deshmukh, filed after a complaint by Gaikwad on 4 April, alleged that he did not inform SIS and its members about the letter, which was written on the society’s letterhead but carried a stamp of GIPE.
According to the FIR, the GIPE gave the letter in-principle approval on 14 December 2022 and, two days later, said it would give an amount of Rs 1.5 crore for this.
Reports added that, according to FIR, Rs 1.02 crore was first sent to the Nagpur district collector’s account. After this, a cheque of Rs 40 lakh was given to SIS for other related expenses.
Speaking to ThePrint Monday, Gaikwad said that the institute, as a deemed university, is governed by the laws of the UGC. As a result, he said, “Any educational institution cannot transfer or provide funds to its parent body for anything other than educational purposes.”
He said that approximately Rs. 1.5 crore was transferred from GIPE to the SIS in December 2022 for the land in Nagpur, violating UGC regulations.
Gaikwad further said that a financial committee, formed later last year, also flagged the misuse of institutional funds by Deshmukh in this issue. “The committee concluded its recent meeting on 29 March, where it raised the issue and asked for accounts and balance sheets and others,” he said.
SIS president Damodar Sahoo told ThePrint that he was looking into the matter. “I don’t know about the matter. I have sought details from the society. I need more time to respond to the matter.”
According to Gaikawad, “If the president doesn’t know, that means the secretary did not involve anyone in the decision making.”
Also Read: Hit by returning fire, founding society reinstates Sanjeev Sanyal as Gokhale Institute chancellor
Internal politics tarnishing image of the institution
Several faculty members expressed concerns over the ongoing internal conflict between the administration and the SIS, saying that it was tarnishing the reputation of an institute that produced prominent economists and policymakers.
“One of the main consequences is that the bad name is now associated with GIPE, not SIS. The direct impact is being felt by the faculty and students—especially those currently seeking placements and internships,” said a senior faculty member on the condition of anonymity. “ We’re unsure how this will affect future admissions.”
Another faculty member pointed out that the instability in leadership has contributed to a decline in the institute’s NAAC accreditation, which has dropped from an A+ to a B rating. “It’s gradually deteriorating—it’s now B, not even B+,” the faculty member told ThePrint.
“SIS needs to be reformed, and the way this organisation is managing GIPE must change. This institute is becoming a textbook case of how internal politics can ruin an academic institution.”
(Edited by Sanya Mathur)