Ashoka University founders Pranav Gupta and Vineet Gupta have been accused of bank forgery of Rs. 1,600 crore by the CBI. This came after the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted raids at 12 locations in Delhi and NCR on December 31, 2021. The CBI has registered a case against their pharmaceutical company – Parabolic drugs.
Vineet Gupta is the founder and trustee of the Ashoka University in Sonepat while Pranav Gupta is the co-founder and trustee on the board. The raids were conducted after they took Rs 1,626.74 crore as a loan from the Central Bank of India and other banks followed and allegedly siphoned off the money. The CBI has filed a case against their Chandigarh-based pharmaceutical company involving the Gupta brothers and 10 others. The Gupta brothers have been charged with cheating the consortium of banks by using forged documents.
Reports suggest the company – Parabolic drugs – used forged documents to secure a loan from public sector banks including The Central Bank of India, State Bank of India, UCO Bank, State Bank of Patiala, ICICI Bank, IDBI Bank, State Bank of Hyderabad, Union Bank of India, Bank of Baroda, Exim Bank, Canara Bank and SIDBI.
Waves of controversies have been hitting the university since political analyst Pratap Bhanu Mehta resigned from the university as a faculty member. Following Mehta’s resignation, former Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramaniam too resigned citing issues over lack of ‘academic freedom’. The University courtyard became a new breeding ground of protests by the students demanding an explanation from its founders over the resignation of the professors.