Bombay High Court orders CBI, ED probe against Sinhgad Technical Education Society

The Bombay High Court recently ordered the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and Income Tax authorities to investigate the affairs of the Sinhgad Technical Education Society (STES) and its trustees over unpaid staff salaries and retirement dues exceeding ₹400 crore [Rohini Aniruddha Mohekar v. Maruti Nivrutti Navale & connected matters]

A special bench of Justices GS Kulkarni and Advait M Sethna convened during the Diwali vacation after STES breached its November 6 undertaking to disburse ₹60.65 crore to teaching and non-teaching employees ahead of the festival.

The teaching and non-teaching staff from 44 STES institutions had filed nearly 220 petitions over salary and terminal due defaults spanning almost eight years.

The Court took note of the extreme financial distress of the employees and the reported suicidal death of around 13 employees.

“The situation is so grave that it is difficult for the Court to remain a mute spectator," the Court observed on November 10.

The Court ordered a freeze on all bank accounts of STES and also restrained any property transfers. It also directed the trustees to surrender their passports and barred them from leaving Pune without police intimation. 

The Court also asked the State Education Department to appoint an administrator for STES technical colleges and take over its schools or absorb the students elsewhere.

Further, the Court issued show-cause notices under Contempt of Courts Act to the society and its trustees, including managing trustee Maruti Navale for intentionally breaching the orders passed in the matter.

The matter will next be heard on November 19.

The petitions before the Court highlighted that the institutions continue to operate with full admissions and was collecting regular student fees.

The Court remarked that prima facie it seemed that the institutional funds were being siphoned off into other businesses despite full student admissions.

"There is a limit to which commercialisation of education can be resorted, that too, at the cost of the innocent employees of the STES," the bench remarked. 

The Court termed the trustees' conduct “an ex facie affront on the fundamental rights guaranteed to the employees under Article 14 and 21 of the Constitution."

It also took strong exception to STES discharging its regular counsel at the last minute to seek an adjournment, calling it a "ploy to defeat the orders of the Court".

[Read Order]