The university sought exemption from taxation saying its sole purpose was imparting education and surpluses cannot be said to be an activity of profit making.
The Income Tax Appellate Tribunal (ITAT) Chandigarh, rejected an appeal made by Inder Kumar Gujral Punjab Technical University (IKGPTU) seeking tax exemption, saying the University is engaged in “profit making and has accumulated surplus running into crores.”
Punjab Vigilance Bureau in January this year had arrested Dr Rajneesh Arora, former Vice Chancellor of the University on corruption charges. Arora had remained V-C of PTU from 2009 to December 22, 2014. He was arrested for allegedly committing various irregularities worth several crores during his tenure. Nine other officials, consultants of PTU were also booked in the same case. A few of those booked are relatives of senior RSS and BJP leaders from Punjab.
Referring to an FIR against former V-C of the university on corruption charges, ITAT said, “Genuineness of the activities of the applicant (university) is also in doubt as functioning of the applicant (university) is marred by controversies”. “Though, imparting technical education is the need of the hour for which the applicant university has been established, but instead of performing its activity in real sense, it has got involved itself in huge profit making,” ITAT Judicial Member Sanjay Garg and Accountant Member Annapurna Gupta noted in a hard hitting order on February 23, dismissing the appeal of IKGPTU where it had challenged a March 31, 2017 order of Commissioner of Income Tax (Exemptions) that denied university tax exemption.
The university sought exemption from taxation saying its sole purpose was imparting education and surpluses cannot be said to be an activity of profit making. IKGPTU was set up on January 16, 1997 by an Act of State Legislature to promote technical, management and pharmaceutical in the state. ITAT order noted that instead of giving helping hand to the youth of the state, university charged hefty fee for applying for admission to the professional courses.
IGKPTU registrar Dr Amanpreet Singh, when contacted, said the university was providing students with available scholarships and had set up number of new laboratories besides imparting best education to the students. He said that has the best infrastructure and international journals and has recruited new faculty over the years. “It is wrong to say that university is not working for the purpose it was established for. Board of Governors is the supreme authority of the university,” Singh said.
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