BENGALURU: The Visvesvaraya Technological University (VTU) has filed a cheating and forgery case against 25 people, including former vice-chancellor Dr H Maheshappa and then registrar, for misappropriation of university funds. Maheshappa is one of the ticket aspirants for the upcoming assembly elections from Harihara constituency.
“The misutilisation of funds came to light during the ongoing internal audit of the university and it is learnt that during his tenure as Vice-Chancellor Dr H Maheshappa had issued Demand Drafts to several people and even withdrew money from the university account,” varsity official who is privy to the audit, said.
“Maheshappa headed the varsity as VC for two terms and during the end of the second term he was suspended by the Governor following the inquiry committee report submitted by Justice Keshava Narayana wherein several allegations against him were proved. Now, the audit for two years has been completed and the amount goes up to `1.8 crore,” the official said.
Maheshappa had issued DDs to many people every month. “When we found that there were no bills for some of the payments made through the DD, we got suspicious,” the official said.
The varsity authorities placed the matter before the executive council, which then decided to file a police complaint. The Governor too ordered to file a criminal case against those involved. The registrar of the university subsequently filed a complaint at Belagavi Rural Police station on March 28, 2018. Senior police officials of Belagavi district confirmed the developments.
Former VC Maheshappa eyeing to contest polls
Former VTU VC Dr H Maheshappa is one of the ticket aspirants for the upcoming assembly elections from Harihara constituency.There is also a pending action against Maheshappa from the government based on the Governor’s recommendation. The Governor had placed Maheshappa under suspension until further orders following the report of Justice K N Keshavanarayana’s one-man committee. Maheshappa has the infamous reputation of being the first vice-chancellor of Karnataka’s only technological university — VTU — to be suspended.But, till date the government has not initiated any action.