HC bars Sinhgad trust trustees from leaving Pune, orders CBI, ED and tax probe into STES

The CBI, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Income Tax department will now investigate the working of the Sinhgad Technical Education Society (STES). All trustees of the society, including managing trustee Maruti Navale, have been barred from leaving Pune. They must also report to the Deccan police station every Friday.

The Bombay High Court made strong observations on the society's affairs on Tuesday. The order is said to be dated November 10. The next hearing in the case is on November 19. According to the information available, an administrator will take over the society's technical institutions. The court has ordered the society's bank accounts and investments to be frozen. The trustees have also been barred from property transactions.

The case concerns teachers and non-teaching staff. The society has withheld their salaries and post-retirement benefits for about eight years. The court has directed an in-depth probe into the financial transactions of the society's 44 educational institutions, the trustees' assets and the alleged misuse of funds. The probe will be carried out through the CBI, ED and the Income Tax department.

A promise to pay Rs 60 crore towards the unpaid salaries was not kept, and the High Court expressed deep displeasure over this. In one place the amount is given as Rs 60.65 crore. The court also recorded in its order the grave fact that more than 12 employees have died by suicide because of this financial hardship.

A show-cause notice has been issued to Navale and the other trustees in the contempt of court case. The action has opened the way to cancelling the recognition of the society's 13 schools and appointing an administrator over the technical educational institutions. A total of 220 petitions are to be heard before a special bench. The court has also recorded serious observations on the way Navale and the other trustees function.

During the hearing, the court put a direct question. It said the society's 44 educational institutions are running at full capacity and admissions of students have been completed. Apart from the government-subsidised fees of students from reserved categories, regular fees are also being collected from the other students. The court asked why, in these circumstances, the society could not pay its employees' salaries for eight years.