College under fire for ‘forging’ lease document to get Bengaluru City University affiliation

Bengaluru: A seven-year-old private college faces serious allegations of forging a lease agreement to secure affiliation under Bengaluru City University (BCU).

The alleged scam, potentially involving government officials, has prompted an investigation by the higher education minister.

St Xavier’s College on Queens Road has been accused of tampering with another party’s property document to create a fake lease agreement, a crucial requirement to apply for university affiliation.

RTI activist’s complaint

Following an RTI activist’s complaint, Higher Education Minister Dr M C Sudhakar sent the lease agreement to the sub-registrar office concerned and, after confirmation that it was forged, directed action against the college.

Sources in the higher education ministry confirmed to DH that the minister has transferred one undersecretary-grade officer working in the university section. The department’s principal secretary has been asked to probe the alleged scandal.

As per the documents available with DH, St Xavier’s College run by the St Xavier’s Educational and Charitable Trust had applied for permission to MBA and MCA courses for the 2023-24 academic year. Its application was rejected in the 2022-23 academic year by the then higher education minister Dr CN Ashwath Narayan due to the lack of a registered lease agreement.

However, the institute later managed to submit a registered lease agreement and got affiliation. But, when they applied for 2023-24, the department received a complaint from an RTI activist questioning their lease agreement.

BCU Vice-Chancellor

Prof Lingaraj Gandhi told DH that the Local Inspection Committees (LICs) will have trouble verifying the documents’ authenticity since colleges apply online for affiliation.

“However, the building lease agreement is one of the key documents considered during the fresh or renewal of affiliation,” he reiterated.

He confirmed receiving communication from the department and said it would be placed before the next syndicate meeting.

“In such cases, the syndicate has to take a decision. We will issue a notice to the college and constitute an inquiry committee before initiating action.”

The college, which offers various UG and PG courses, declined to comment.

Meanwhile, sources said Dr Sudhakar, suspecting a bigger scam, is initiating an investigation into files handled by officials linked to the St Xavier’s case.