DVAC slaps assets case against ex-VC of Bharathiar univ

DVAC slaps assets case against ex-VC of Bharathiar univ

TIMES NEWS NETWORK

Chennai:20.02.2021

Five-and-a-half years after he demitted office as vice-chancellor of Bharathiar University in Coimbatore, James Pitchai was booked for disproportionate assets by Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption on Wednesday.

According to the FIR registered by the Tirupur deputy superintendent of police of DVAC, Pitchai and his family members had amassed Rs 6.17 crore during his three-year term at the helm of the university, which was 135% of their income during the period.

Checks by DVAC found that along with his family members, Pitchai had bought properties and land in Chennai, Madurai and Kodaikanal which were disproportionate to his known sources of income. DVAC’s case sheets show that Pitchai entered government service in December 1978 as an assistant professor in the department of agriculture at the TN Agriculture University in Coimbatore. He was elevated as associate professor 10 years later and another decade later became a professor.

Pitchai was appointed dean in November 2009 in TNAU and became the vicechancellor of Bharathiar University on September 21, 2012. His tenure ended on September 20, 2015.

DVAC said Pitchai’s wife is a doctor who runs a hospital and they have a daughter and a son, both doctors and working in the same hospital. DVAC’s check period for calculating disproportionate assets was Pitchai’s tenure as vice-chancellor. Assets at the start of check period were Rs 3.21crore and assets acquired in his and family members’ names were worth Rs 8.75 crore at the end of the check period. The family earned Rs 4.57 crore in the three years and incurred expenditure of Rs 5.2 crore. The assets disproportionate to their known sources of income was found to be Rs 6.17 crore, DVAC said.