The Aligarh Municipal Corporation on Tuesday seized the bank account of Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) after the university administration failed to pay the property tax dues of over Rs 14 crores.
According to the reports, Vinay Kumar Rai, the Chief Taxation Officer, Aligarh said that the varsity administration has failed to pay property tax despite repeated requests made to them asking to pay the dues.
The officer told that there was a property tax due of around Rs 14.83 lakh crore of Aligarh Municipal Corporation on AMU. He added that the dues were pending for the last 8 to 10 years.
“In 2019 we have seized the accounts. We have given them enough chances and asked them to pay the dues but they did not do so. Hence we were forced to take the decision of seizing the bank account of Aligarh Muslim University,” Rai said to the media.
Warning the varsity administration, the official said that if AMU fails to pay the dues within a week, then the municipal authorities will transfer the money from AMU’s account to Municipal Corporation. The officer said that the administration will also think of obfuscating the properties if dues are not clear within a week.
Aligarh Muslim university denies charges, says the matter is sub-judice
Meanwhile, the Aligarh Muslim University on Tuesday claimed the action of civic authorities as ham-handed, discriminatory and based on distorted facts.
“The issue of alleged non-payment of house tax is sub-judice and the corporation, in fact, owes Rs 9 crore to the varsity on account of unpaid electricity bills for operating its tube wells on the campus,” AMU spokesman Professor Shafey Kidwai said.
The AMU spokesperson also said the varsity has also written letters to the Union Minister of Education and the University Grants Commission to settle the issue of payment of property tax dues to the Aligarh Municipal Corporation.
In its release, the University claimed that it had been paying house tax for residential areas and it got an exemption for the classrooms, laboratories and libraries from the Aligarh Municipal Council. In 2006, when the Aligarh Nagar Nigam came into being, it reversed the decision and the University approached the High Court.
