JOIN USCollege violates court order, fails to reinstate seat scam whistleblower
The whistleblower in the seat-blocking scam at Dr B R Ambedkar Medical College (AMC) in Bengaluru continues to be jobless since 2007.
Shivalingaswamy, who was a physical instructor in the college, had unearthed that a few members of the Ananda Social and Educational Trust, which runs AMC, and its PRO had swindled Rs 51 crore refunded to students who surrendered their merit seats in three years.
Shivalingaswamy was placed under suspension and dismissed from service in January 2007. Shivalingaswamy continued his fight against the order of dismissal. He was charged with misconduct without holding a enquiry. He moved the Educational Appellate Tribunal in 2007 against the order. After a legal battle for over nine years, the tribunal dismissed the order and directed AMC to reinstate him.
“The order was issued in June 2016. The institution was directed to reinstate me without consequential benefits and back wages. I will have to start another battle for consequential benefits and back wages. The institution did not reinstate me, instead moved the High Court, challenging the Tribunal’s order,” Shivalingaswamy said.
When the matter did not reach the High Court for almost six months, he moved the city civil court seeking attachment of the bank account of the Trust, through which employees’ salaries were disbursed. The court passed an order in May 2017, attaching the account of AMC at Anand Co-operative Bank. The institution’s excuse was that the writ petition filed challenging the Tribunal’s order was pending.
The court held, “Even if such writ petition is filed, unless there is an interim order by the HC staying the award under execution, this court cannot suo motu postpone the execution of award indefinitely.”
The court ordered attachment of the account maintained and operated by the Trust in Anand Co-operative Bank at AMC branch, Shamapur Main Road, Bengaluru. “I have learnt that the institution has now opened another account to disburse salaries,” Shivalingaswamy said.
CCB findings
Shivalingaswamy had filed a complaint in the DJ Halli police station with regard to irregularities during 2011-2014. The AMC case was handed over to the CCB in August 2014. The FIR named Amanullah Khan (public relations officer of AMC) as the main accused and Radhakrishna, son-in-law of former union minister Mallikarjuna Kharge, as the second accused, along with 14 other founder trustees and associate trustees.
The CCB found that while other private colleges charged Rs 50 to Rs 70 lakh for an MBBS seat under management quota, AMC accounts showed a mere Rs 4.5 lakh per seat. A total of 668 students had surrendered merit seats between 2011 and 2014 after getting through ComedK entrance test. Seventy-three of them opted for AMC seats before dropping out. The fees they paid to ComedK and the college (Rs 2.6 crore) were refunded to them by cheque. These cheques were credited in the accounts of the AMC principal at the Corporation Bank in RT Nagar and Indian Bank in Hosur, Tamil Nadu.