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Alleged financial and administrative irregularities at Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU) during 2017-22 took centrestage at the university’s biannual senate meeting that began on Tuesday. In response to a firm demand by senate members, Vice Chancellor Suresh Gosavi said that a forensic audit of the university would be conducted and completed by March 31 next year.
In an adjournment motion, senate member Vinayak Ambekar raised two allegations. First, he alleged that administrative lapses during 2017-22 by the then Vice Chancellor as ‘ordinances’ issued by him were not converted into statutes within the time-limit. Second, he alleged huge financial irregularities based on a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) audit report.
Ambekar alleged that in 2017, the amount of money that can be spent by the then VC for recurring expenses and capital expenditure was increased significantly through an ‘ordinance’. He said, “As per the Maharashtra Public Universities Act, this order lapses after six months and has to be approved by the Governor after that. However, the then Vice Chancellor copied and pasted this order with new dates every six months multiple times in five years. He did not even get an approval of the Management Council or the Senate…The honourable Supreme Court has ruled that re-promulgation of an ordinance is un-constitutional.”
Ambekar also alleged financial irregularities in various university procurements, citing a ‘CAG audit’. These, he alleged, included supplying and installing sports equipment for shooting range, setting up of a Data Analytics Centre by SPPU’s Technology Department for the Tribal Development Ministry, purchase of UPS battery backups and air-conditioning units, gas suppression systems, and various other procurements.
The preliminary CAG audit, which is not yet public, is titled ‘Inspection report on the audit of office of the Vice-Chancellor, Pune University, Pune (renamed as Savitribai Phule Pune University),’ and was conducted between October 2024 and November 2025, he said.
Ambekar said, “The queries were sent by the CAG to the university but there has been no response to it by the university. Due to a misunderstanding of the nature of the report, it was shared with me by university officials as I am a member of the Finance and Accounts Committee.”
Ambekar demanded a written assurance from the Vice Chancellor that the forensic audit be conducted. Gosavi orally agreed to an audit and concluded the day’s proceedings. In a worrying sign, various members of the senate alleged that minutes of previous Senate meetings have not been accurately recorded or later edited to remove unfavourable portions.
Various motions have been proposed by senate members like a low-cost insurance for students and re-introduction of research grants, however none of these were taken up on the first day. Only two adjournment motions, first on the slide in NIRF rankings and second on the alleged financial and administrative irregularities, were discussed.
In response to the first adjournment motion, Gosavi said the university was functioning as well as before, proven by the improvement in QS World Rankings, and that change in NIRF parameters was the main reason for its slide in rank.
