Panel finds ‘irregularities’ in West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences tender

KOLKATA: The state's premier law institute, West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences (WBNUJS), is in the midst of controversy. A committee headed by Justice NN Mathur has found irregularities in its bidding process, say sources.
Justice Mathur, former judge of Rajasthan and Gujarat high courts and former vice-chancellor of the National Law University, Jodhpur, was requested for a probe into the financial irregularities.Prof P Ishwar Bhatt, VC of NUJS, asked for an investigation. Two former officers of the Indian Audit & Accounts Service, Ashok Deb and Saroj Das, were also in the probe team.
Several students of NUJS had earlier aired their grievances on misuse of funds by university officials between 2011 and 2014 to Bhatt. Justice Mathur in his report stated that transparency was not maintained while handling contracts.
Students had alleged that UGC funds were used for interior decoration and Rs 1.32 crore was used to adorn just three halls. The judge found that initially, there was only one bidder but when the university officials extended the date; another bidder came into the picture. However, by then the bid price rose by over Rs 1 crore, and so, the initial sole bidder became the lowest bidder.
Justice Mathur observed that the university officials should have gone for another round of bidding. He also found an unholy nexus between the two bidders. The tenders were not processed as per requirements as normally, any repair work over Rs 30 lakh is given to PWD or CPWD or any government agency. But, in NUJS, tenders were given to a private party, he said. Justice Mathur wanted the tendering process to be streamlined to stop misuse of funds.
The committee also found that the architect firm which was hired for construction work in the university did not submit detailed sketches, designs, and estimates. The firm also did not give the tender papers on time, which delayed the processing. While appointing the architect, NUJS had contacted KMDA, but selected a private contractor later. There was no attempt to explore the market rate, the panel observed.
The university spent Rs 45 lakh to purchase 106 air-conditioners for classrooms, staff room and rooms for faculty. However, experts were not consulted before doing that. Justice Mathur committee probed the audit report as the university did not go for statutory auditing. In his report, Justice Mathur asked the executive council to issue directives regarding financial matters to stop fund misuse. It suggested people from outside the varsity to be appointed in the tender committee.
Prof Bhatt told the panel that they have discussed the probe report in the executive council meet and are going to take action. "We are going for a cost-benefit analysis and will figure out those responsible for the anomalies," he said.