NEW DELHI: In what may come as a relief to parents and students of Raisina Bengali School in south Delhi’s Chittaranjan Park, Delhi government plans to take over the school which has been overwhelmed by mounting debt amid allegations of financial mismanagement.

Earlier TOI had reported that the debt recovery tribunal had directed the auctioning of a portion of the school. The e-auction, which was scheduled to be held on January 14, did not take place because no bids were received.

In Delhi High Court on Thursday, Delhi government stated that it was willing to take over the school and had also written to the Comptroller & Auditor General of India to conduct a financial inspection of the school.

In a letter to the CAG on April 27, Delhi government’s Directorate of Education (DoE) said that complaints and representations had been received by the directorate related to alleged financial embezzlement and irregularities by the school management. “Further, the school management availed a loan of Rs 2 crore from United Bank of India but failed to repay the same because of which the school was to be auctioned, which would have certainly sabotaged the future of the students and teachers,” the letter said.

Keeping the gravity of the situation in view, DoE requested CAG “to kindly conduct a financial audit of the relevant accounts of the said school so that the matter can be resolved on merit”.

Speaking to TOI, Santosh Tripathi, counsel for Delhi government, said, “The state government has ordered an enquiry by CAG and very serious action will be taken in case any siphoning of funds is discovered. Further, the government is willing to take over the school and is preparing for the same. The school will not shut down and the future of students is safe. The government is duty-bound to maintain educational standards and will do so.”

In an order on January 5, the high court had recorded the undertaking of asset reconstruction company ASREC that it would not disturb the school and its students till the end of the 2021-22 academic session, which concluded on March 31.

Seeking the court’s directions to DoE to place on record the status of financial inspection or audit of the school’s accounts, an application moved by Sudeep Chatterjee, the counsel appearing on behalf of the school’s students, also sought directions to ASREC not to take any adverse action against the interests of the students till the disposal of DoE’s representation.

Senior management officials of Raisina Bengali School told TOI on Friday, “We have not yet received a copy of the Delhi High Court order and Delhi government’s proposal. We will look into it once it is available and decide the next course of action.”