NEW DELHI: The Central Vigilance Commission has asked the
HRD ministry to `reinvestigate' allegations of corruption against Devi Singh, director of IIM, Lucknow.
In a letter to the higher education secretary,
CVC secretary KS Ramasubban has asked the ministry as to why the case against Singh is being closed when specific allegations have not been answered. The CVC has taken exception to the fact that the case is being closed on the basis of an "emotional reply" by Singh.
CVC sources said the ministry had taken Singh's reply as final.
"Without investigation how can general comments be taken as the final word?" a CVC official asked. CVC sources also said that the institute's Board of Governors had rejected allegations against Singh. "This is not how an investigation is conducted," the CVC official said, adding that the HRD ministry was to be blamed for not following the procedure.
The allegations against Singh, now serving his second term as director of IIM-L, range from nepotism to mismanagement of accounts.
However, sources in IIM-L, say the allegations against Singh have been wrongly foisted. "He got the second term despite HRD ministry's best attempt to make DK Bandopadhyay as the director. Since then, many allegations have been levelled against him," one IIM-L source said. But CVC sources say most of the allegations against Singh pertain from his first term as director.
The second term to Singh in 2008 had become controversial. He was the first choice of the search-cum-selection committee, but then HRD minister Arjun Singh wanted Bandopadhyay to be made IIM-L director. The Cabinet Secretariat then intervened and asked the ministry to state the reasons for not giving Singh another term. The ministry finally acquiesced and Singh was given another term.