The Rs 14 crore figure at the centre of this row is an audit account, reported in June 2025, of irregularities at the Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR). It is not a court-established amount of money lost or stolen. The Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) has recommended that the Ministry of Education begin penalty proceedings against 15 current and former ICHR officials, four of them members of the Akhil Bharatiya Itihas Sankalan Yojana (ABISY), which is associated with the RSS. A recommendation starts a disciplinary process; it does not establish guilt. Here is what the reporting says, which figures belong together, and what remains unresolved.
What is being alleged, and by whom
The allegations come from an investigation by Ayush Tiwari published by Scroll on June 2, 2025. It said two complaints about ICHR’s finances, appointments and promotions had been filed with the Lokpal in 2022 and 2023. Those complaints led to parallel examinations by the CVC and the Ministry of Education, which included a ministry internal audit in 2023. Scroll reported a total of Rs 14.03 crore in financial irregularities, including Rs 7.4 crore in grants paid to scholars who had not submitted their work and that had not been recovered.
Two points are easy to lose. First, the Rs 14.03 crore total is a figure the audit process reported, and the reporting describes it as irregularities, not as money proven to have been misappropriated. Second, the Rs 7.4 crore component concerns grants and non-submission of work. It does not on its own show that every rupee was taken for personal use.
The figures, and why they do not reconcile into one number
Several outlets have reported different audit totals. The table below keeps each figure tied to the outlet, the date of reporting, and the audit it describes. The available reporting does not explain whether the scope, categories or accounting periods of these figures overlap, so they should not be added together or treated as directly comparable.
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| Figure | Reported by | Date of reporting | Audit as described | What it covers |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rs 14.03 crore total | Scroll | June 2, 2025 | Ministry of Education internal audit, 2023 | Financial irregularities, including Rs 7.4 crore in unrecovered grants to scholars who had not submitted work |
| Almost Rs 5 crore | The Indian Express | April 21, 2025 | Ministry of Education special audit covering April 2021 to March 2023 | Unauthorised building work, questionable purchases and publication costs, event spending and procurement issues |
| Rs 2.55 crore | The Indian Express | 2025 | Ministry of Education audit | Repairs and renovations to a JNU-owned ICHR building, reportedly without required approvals or competitive bidding |
| Rs 25 lakh | The Indian Express | 2025 | Ministry of Education audit | Cost of 1,000 copies of India, the Mother of Democracy at Rs 2,500 each; about 900 reportedly remained unsold. The audit reportedly said the book was priced irrationally and that printing and binding were substandard |
| Rs 40.86 lakh | The Indian Express | 2025 | Ministry of Education audit | Exhibition titled Glory of Medieval India, reportedly without Council approval or competitive tendering, with a large advance payment |
The inclusion of the book in this table is to show what the audit questioned. It is not a recommendation to buy or read it.
How a complaint became a disciplinary recommendation
The reporting describes a sequence that runs from complaint to audit to advice. Each stage has a different legal weight, and reports sometimes blur them.
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- Complaints to the Lokpal (2022 and 2023). Two complaints covered finances, appointments and promotions at ICHR, according to Scroll.
- Parallel examinations. The CVC and the Ministry of Education examined the matters at the same time. The ministry’s internal audit in 2023 is the source of the Rs 14.03 crore total that Scroll reported.
- Special audit. The Indian Express reported a ministry special audit covering April 2021 to March 2023, which led to the almost Rs 5 crore figure and the itemised examples above.
- Ministry request for ICHR’s views. The Indian Express reported that the ministry asked ICHR to review the audit findings and respond.
- ICHR’s first-stage advice. ICHR’s member-secretary’s office told The Indian Express that the matter was under consideration by the CVC and the Lokpal, and that a first-stage advisory had been prepared for erring officials. It said it would strictly comply with any directions the CVC and Lokpal recommended.
- CVC recommendation (May 2, 2025). According to Scroll, the CVC advised the Ministry of Education to begin penalty proceedings against 15 current and former ICHR officials, including four ABISY members. The count is of officials covered by recommended proceedings. None has been reported as convicted.
- Disciplinary proceedings. TimelineDaily reported on June 2, 2025 that ICHR chairman Raghuvendra Tanwar said disciplinary proceedings had commenced. The same report noted that CVC recommendations are not binding.
A penalty proceeding is a departmental process, and its outcome can range from no action to dismissal. The reporting available does not show which of these outcomes, if any, has been reached.
Why ABISY members are in the story
Scroll described ABISY as RSS-associated and reported that several of its members had held ICHR positions. That association is the reason the group appears in the headline. It should be kept separate from the financial and procedural questions.
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- Financial and procedural allegations rest on the audit reports and the vigilance process: grants, building work, purchases, publication and event spending, and approvals.
- The ideological framing (that RSS-linked people gained influence over ICHR) is Scroll’s analysis and the characterisation of critics. It is not an audit finding.
- The membership link explains why officials from one group are named in a recommendation. It does not, by itself, show that membership caused any particular decision.
Readers who want to judge individual responsibility should look for documents that tie a named person to a specific decision, and not only to a group or an affiliation.
What ICHR, Kadam and the ministry have said
The Indian Express reported that ICHR’s General Council took the matter seriously, that a special committee agreed with the violations identified, and that the Council asked the ministry to act regarding former member-secretary Umesh Ashok Kadam. Kadam denied wrongdoing. He told the outlet: “I have given all my responses to ICHR. But everything is on paper and on file. All decisions were passed by the Council. I was just the member secretary and there are other directors in the body (ICHR) too.” The Indian Express said an email to the Ministry of Education had not received a response.
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The audit itself has a sharper tone. As quoted by Scroll, its conclusion was: “There is no transparency in decision making and there is large-scale violation of GFR [General Financial Rules] and other rules and regulations.” That sentence is the audit document’s language, not the view of a named individual.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.The political reaction
A PTI report carried by The Economic Times quoted Congress leader Jairam Ramesh calling the matter a Rs 14 crore “scam” and alleging systematic RSS influence in institutions. That is political criticism. The same report said there was no immediate comment from ICHR or ABISY at the time. Use “scam” only as a quotation of Ramesh or as a description of the political debate, not as a finding about the audit.
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What is not established
- Final findings or penalties. The reporting from June 2025 does not show a final order, a chargesheet, or a disciplinary decision.
- Criminal guilt. No court outcome has been reported. The Rs 14 crore figure is an audit account and should not be described as stolen money.
- Recoveries. The reporting does not say how much of the unrecovered grant money has since been recovered.
- The status of the Scroll article. The Scroll page states that the story “has been withheld in response to a legal demand,” which it recorded on July 10, 2025. The reporting does not establish who made that demand, on what legal basis, or what happened next. Whether the article has since been restored is also not stated.
- Reconciliation of the totals. No report reviewed explains how Scroll’s Rs 14.03 crore and the Indian Express’s almost Rs 5 crore relate to each other.
How to read the next report on this story
- Check whether the figure is an audit total, an itemised example, a recovery figure or a penalty amount.
- Check whether a body has recommended action (CVC or ministry) or has taken action (a disciplinary order).
- Check whether the named person has responded. Kadam’s denial and ICHR’s statement are both part of the record.
- Check whether a claim about ABISY concerns the group’s ties to ICHR, or a specific decision.
Until an official order or a later, reliable report confirms a final outcome, the accurate description is that the audit reported irregularities, the CVC recommended disciplinary proceedings against 15 officials, and those proceedings are unresolved.
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