JNU V-C suspends professor arrested by CBI in graft case

Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) has suspended Rajeev Sijariya, a professor at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee School of Management and Entrepreneurship, following his arrest by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in a bribery case linked to the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC).

Through an order issued a day earlier, JNU Vice-Chancellor Santishree D. Pandit placed Prof. Sijariya under suspension on Monday “pending the outcome of the CBI inquiry/findings and departmental inquiry. It is further ordered that during the period of his suspension, he shall not leave the station without obtaining prior permission from the Vice-Chancellor”.

In an FIR registered on February 1, the probe agency booked Prof. Sijariya, along with 14 others. The other accused include the Vice-Chancellor and office-bearers of the Koneru Lakshmaiah Education Foundation (KLEF), who allegedly paid bribes to secure a favourable NAAC accreditation rating.

NAAC is an autonomous institute that assesses and accredits higher educational institutions such as colleges and universities. According to a senior officer, KLEF, a deemed-to-be-university, was rated A++ by NAAC in 2024 and was due for a fresh inspection this year. The new inspection was scheduled between January 29 and January 31.

“The CBI received input about office-bearers of theinstitute colluding with NAAC officials to get members favourable to KLEF into the inspection team and bribing them for a favourable report,” said the officer. The institute was told about the panel well before NAAC officially communicated it to KLEF. “Prof. Sijariya was one of the seven members on the panel. He demanded ₹1.8 crore to manage the committee but later agreed to a bribe of ₹28 lakh and a laptop,” the officer added.