VIJAYAWADA: The High Court of Andhra Pradesh sought an explanation from the State government as to why no action was initiated even after the vigilance department submitted a report that irregularities to the tune of Rs 1.46 crore took place in payments of various procurement made by Rayalaseema University in Kurnool district between 2007 and 2012.
A Public Interest Litigation (PIL), filed by AISF leader M Kallappa, urged the court to direct the government to initiate action against those responsible for the irregularities based on the vigilance report and order a thorough investigation by the CID into the irregularities. Dealing with the petition three days ago, a division bench comprising Justice C Praveen Kumar and Justice K Manmada Rao directed Principal Secretary (Higher Education), APSCHE secretary, Rayalaseema University registrar, CID Director General, the then vice chancellors of Rayalaseema university JV Prabhakar Rao and K Krishna Naik to file counters. The case hearing was posted after four weeks.
During the hearing, petitioner’s counsel Tandava Yogesh said the university officials failed to submit vouchers for purchases worth Rs 1.39 crore. Further, Rs 70 lakh worth furniture was rendered waste.
He said the vigilance department submitted a report to the government asserting that irregularities took place, but the government has not initiated any action. He urged the court to direct the government to recover the amount from those responsible for the irregularities.