Administrator not to take over sinhgad tech institute

Mumbai: The Bombay high court has restrained the state from taking over the administration of Sinhgad Technical Institution even as it has not been able to pay the salaries of teachers on time. The institute claimed that the salaries were not paid as the government had failed to reimburse nearly Rs 117 crore for the academic year. A division bench of justices Ranjit More and S.S. Jadhav was hearing a writ petition filed by Sinhgad Technical Education Society against the March 1 recommendation of Pune University to appoint an administrator for the institution as it had failed to pay the salaries of its teachers.

The counsel for the institute informed the court that it had admitted students from various reserved categories as per a government scheme and had filled up 50 percent of its seats with such students. As per the scheme the government was to bear the cost of the fees of such students but had failed to reimburse an amount of Rs 117 crore which was to be reimbursed in two parts in August 2017 and January 2018. The counsel argued that as the institute was not at fault the recommendation of the university was not valid. The court accepted the submissions and directed the university to file its reply and granted ad-interim relief to the institute till April 2.