University hands over luxury SUV to minister, pays fuel bills

CHENNAI: As Tamil Nadu Dr MGR Medical University vice-chancellor, Dr S Geethalakshmi gave away her official vehicle, an 11-month-old Toyota Altis, and bought a 29.26 lakh luxury SUV six months into office. While a vigilance inquiry is pending on how she overshot the budget by nearly 14 lakh, the university has quietly handed over the vehicle to health minister C Vijayabaskar, who is also pro-chancellor of the university.

Evidence to this is a handwritten note signed by a driver, D Kumar, kept in the university file in the vehicle. The note says, "After the second service of the vehicle bearing registration no TN-09-CD 9595 (Toyata Fortuner) done by Ms Lanson Motors Private Ltd Chennai, the said vehicle was again handed over to the driver of the honourable health minister of Tamil Nadu. The kilometre of the vehicle is 9,122."

University registrar Parameshwari Srijayanth did not respond to calls, but sources in the university said the vehicle was given to the minister on "oral orders". "It is not illegal for the minister to hold the vehicle because he is the pro-chancellor. But it was not officially handed over to him. No one from this University signed any paper. Kumar is not our driver. What you see in the file is a receipt from the minister's office," said a senior officer. But the university continues to sanction 50 litres of fuel, he said.

The minister and his office did not respond to messages or calls. In 2017, the university in an RTI response said the purchase was approved by the governing council on June 30, 2016, nearly four weeks after it was done. There were no questions raised on why the Altis, which was less than a year old, had to be replaced.

The home department fixes price ceilings for purchase of vehicles by government departments. In 2017, the university had gone ahead with the purchase despite objections raised by the finance committee. The vehicle cost overshot the ceiling by nearly 14 lakh, making it costlier than those allotted to ministers, judges, chief secretary and officers of equivalent rank. The file was moved to directorate of vigilance and anti-corruption for investigation.

However, university officials claimed these government rules don't apply to a statutory body like the university. Former university registrar Dr T Balasubramanian said the university got only 20 lakh approval from the finance committee for a Toyota Innova Crysta, but before they could make the purchase the cost of the vehicle went up. They then bought a Toyota Fortuner, which was later ratified by the governing council.

"It was bought for the former VC, but she never actually used it. It was parked on our campus. Later, we handed it over to the minister's office," said a senior administrator.