Karnataka Govt to Move for Legal Battle Against Centre on VTU Issue: Minister

Koppal: Karnataka state government will opt for a legal against the union government asking centre to return Rs 441 crore seized by Income Tax (IT) Department in last year from the bank account of Belagavi based Vishveshwarya Technical University (VTU), said Karnataka State Minister for Higher Education Basavaraj Reddy speaking to media persons here in Koppal on Thursday.

As of now, the university is facing huge financial trouble and unable to move with its objective and IT department’s move on its bank deposit has hit day today activities seriously. The union government is still silent over IT seizure even if VTU is a state run university, the minister said.

Last year, IT officials seized the cash amount and asked the university to pay Rs 127 crore as penalty for the alleged unaccounted cash deposited. The amount seized include Rs 80 to 90 crore sanctioned by the state government to the university. He said his department has requested the state, union governments and even union finance minister Arun Jaitely to take necessary steps to resolve the issue immediately. However, no one has come forward yet to resolve the issues of the university especially the future of the students, minister added.

At present, well-known VTU is facing severe financial crunch and university officials are unable  to announce exam results, conduct exams on time and this has created chaos among the students and their parents, minister added.