President Pranab Mukherjee has approved the Human Resource Development Ministry’s proposal to investigate accusations of financial and administrative misconduct against Aligarh Muslim University vice-chancellor Zameeruddin Shah, The Indian Express reported on Tuesday. The approval follows the sanctioning of an inquiry against Allahabad University Vice-Chancellor RL Hangloo.
Shah will be the seventh Central university vice-chancellor to be investigated under the National Democratic Alliance regime since 2014. The legality of Shah’s appointment as the university’s vice-chancellor is being studied by the Supreme Court.
The Human Resources Department has accused Shah of financial, administrative and academic impropriety, including illegal transfer of funds collected from university students to a private trust. Shah has also been accused of appointing a retired brigadier as the varsity’s pro vice-chancellor, even though rules require a professor to perform the role. According to a report by The Times of India, Comptroller and Auditor General records show financial irregularities amounting to Rs 120 crore.
The Union department also accused Shah of appointing candidates that did not have the proper qualifications for the posts and held him responsible for a breakdown of law and order at the university.
Shah reportedly countered the allegations in a letter to Mukherjee, dismissing the claims as an attempt to ruin his reputation, and named former Rajya Sabha MP and ex-member of AMU executive council Wasim Ahmad as a possible suspect. The Indian Express quoted Ahmad, who said, “There should be a Central Bureau of Investigation inquiry against him. I am happy that the HRD Minister acted on my complaint and sought the President’s permission to start a probe.”
An official investigation will be launched if Shah fails to reply “satisfactorily” to a show cause notice, which the HRD ministry is likely to issue, asking the vice-chancellor to prove his case against a probe.
The vice-chancellor was appointed during the United Progressive Alliance regime in 2012. The HRD ministry, under the NDA, has dismissed two university heads on similar grounds and launched inquiries against three others.
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