Fraud of ₹57 lakh detected in JNU

Fraud of ₹57 lakh detected in JNU

Officials claimed travel concession and phone bill reimbursement during 2017-18

07/06/2020, STAFF REPORTER,NEW DELHI

A central expenditure audit team has detected a fraud of ₹57 lakh by over 100 officials of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), in claiming leave travel concession and reimbursement of phone bills during the 2017-18 period.

Executive Council

While the varsity did not respond to queries pertaining to the same, a senior official, who did not wish to be named, said that the matter was put forth before the Executive Council (EC) meeting.

“The EC is apprised of the matter and is looking into it. As per the EC decision, the defaulters will be asked to pay,” the official said.

Following the audit, the Director General of Audit (Central Expenditure) had also recommended suspending the varsity employees involved in the alleged fraud on the basis of fictitious bills.

The matter came to light following an RTI query filed by Kota-based activist Sujeet Swami seeking details of complete audit and inspection reports of JNU and Jamia Millia Islamia for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20.

In the 2017-18 audit report for JNU, the DGCAE found that 34 JNU officials had availed their LTCs on the basis of fraudulent bills while 70 employees had claimed phone reimbursements worth ₹5.05 lakh, despite not being entitled to them.

(With PTI inputs)