'Appoint panel to probe charges against VTU VC'

A section of JD(S) legislators on Friday submitted a complaint to Governor Vajubhai Vala urging him to appoint a commission of inquiry to probe various charges of financial and other irregularities against Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) Vice Chancellor H Maheshappa.

Legislators Y S V Datta (MLA), Puttana, R Chowda Reddy and Marithibbegowda (MLCs) have levelled charges against Maheshappa on five counts, including violation of rules in appointment of staff, irregularities in civil works and tender awards and misappropriation of the university funds.

Speaking to reporters after submitting a memorandum to the governor at the Raj Bhavan, Datta alleged that the extension of term given to Maheshappa by the previous Governor H R Bhardwaj in June this year was itself a violation of the VTU Act and the same had been brought to the notice of the present governor.

Datta accused Maheshappa of violating the rules during recruitment of faculty by not following the reservation policy for the Hyderabad-Karnataka region.

He pointed out that an inquiry conducted by former additional chief secretary G V Krishna Rau on an earlier complaint submitted by the legislators had recommended that violation of statutes in the recruitment of faculty and that it was a fit case for an investigation to be ordered.

The 17-page complaint mentions eight cases of alleged irregularities in the award of civil and tender works. The complaint states that the Karnataka Transparency in Public Procurement Act, 1999, had been violated in several instances.

The other charges made by the legislators include irregularities in the award of examination works and using the corpus fund of VTU totalling Rs 571 crore without proper permission.