PUNE: A magisterial court in Pune has ‘kept for verification’ a private complaint by an education activist accusing the Deccan College Post Graduate Research Institute — the country’s third oldest educational institution specialising in Indology, Sanskrit and linguistic studies — of violation of various norms, including use of a `Deemed University’ prefix instead of a ‘deemed-to-be university’ and claiming an `A’ rating by the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC) despite it lapsing in 2020.
Deccan College registrar Abhijit Dandekar told TOI on Friday, “The complaint is borne out of ignorance of a person, who does not have the technical or legal information of the statutory basis upon which the institute functions.”
Judicial magistrate first class M A Shaikh cited the nature of offence mentioned in the complaint and said in his order on March 8, “There appears no necessity for investigation through police machinery. Hence, I am not inclined to use my discretionary powers under Section 156 (3) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC).”
While Section 156 (3) empowers the magistrate to direct a police investigation, the order to keep the complaint for verification has been passed under Section 200 of the CrPC.
“Considering the nature of the allegation, it would be just and proper to take verification of complaint,” the magistrate said.
Complainant Abhishek Haridas, who appeared in person, had sought the court’s direction for registration of a case for cheating and other offences against the institute. Haridas argued that a cognisable offence has been committed by way of violation of norms.
Dandekar said, “The name of the institute is, ‘Deccan College Post Graduate and Research Institute’. Nowhere does it mentions the word ‘university’ in its name. The term ‘Deemed University’ is about the status of the institute under section 3 of UGC act of 1956. Hence, it can be said that.”
On the NAAC issue, Dandekar said that, “The institute couldn’t expedite the procedure earlier owing to the pandemic. However, the procedure has begun and very soon the institute will apply for fresh accreditation.”
