Governor suspends Vice-Chancellor arrested on bribe charge

Ganapathi was arrested by the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti Corruption last week for alleged graft in relation to teacher appointment. “In exercise of the inherent powers vested in the Governor of Tamil Nadu, in his capacity as the Chancellor of the University A Ganapathy has been placed under suspension with effect from February 6, 2018,” a Raj Bhavan release said. 

The suspension will continue until further orders, it added.

The release recalled that Ganapathi was arrested by DVAC “on charges of bribery and he has been subsequently remanded to judicial custody.” “The Higher Education Department of the government has reported the arrest of Ganapathi to the Governor, who is the Chancellor of the University. The charges levelled against Ganapathi are serious in nature,” it said. 

On February 3, Ganapathy was arrested from his residence at Coimbatore for allegedly accepting Rs 30 lakh as bribe from an aspirant for the post of an assistant professor. Ganapathy allegedly demanded Rs 35 lakh for the post and finally agreed to take Rs 30 lakh from the complainant. He was produced in a special court in that city on February 4 and remanded to judicial custody till February 16. 

Not just in appointments, the Vice Chancellor and his coterie had also allegedly swindled lakhs by submitting bogus food bills. According to sources, top officials used to inflate the number of students, who consumed food in university functions, prepared bogus bills and pocketed an exorbitant amount from the university funds.