'Action if Pandey found guilty': Joshi

Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said the ministry would initiate against VS Pandey, joint secretary of the ministry and the government's nominee on the IIM-Ahmedabad board, if he was indicted by the Allahabad High Court or the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over financial irregularities.

Joshi said, "I am aware that an inquiry into the allegations against Pandey is going on and an appeal has also been filed in the Allahabad High Court by him. We will take appropriate action once inquiry is completed."

A spokesperson of CBI, talking to Business Standard, said, "We are yet to receive a formal copy of the court order. Once we get that, action will be initiated."

He also said the agency had applied for a certified copy of the March 25 order of the Allahabad High Court.

The CBI was directed by the court to investigate charges of financial irregularities in the Uttar Pradesh Cooperative Spinning Mills Federation (UPSMF) during 1996-99 against Pandey and others. Manoranjan Singh, an Allahabad journalist, had filed a writ petition in the court.

Pandey came into limelight recently when he and V Piparsania, financial adviser to human resources development ministry, as the two nominees of the ministry on the IIM-Ahmedabad board, had tried to browbeat the Board of Governors into accepting the ministry's diktat of an 80 per cent fee cut.

Manoranjan Singh has alleged that the matter involves loss of money resulting from unauthorised and reckless actions by officials amounting to hundreds of crores in the spinning mills being run by UPSMF in Kanpur.

The court said in spite of repeated efforts made by the state government, the officials concerned have not been co-operating in the inquiry into the losses.