India, June 12 -- In a major escalation of the ongoing dispute, the Gokhale Institute of Politics and Economics (GIPE) has formally demanded that the Servants of India Society (SIS), its parent body, be placed under a neutral administrator. GIPE has also urged the police to name SIS president Damodar Sahoo as a co-accused in an ongoing case involving alleged financial irregularities.

At a press conference on Thursday, GIPE staff members accused Sahoo and ousted secretary Milind Deshmukh of misusing crores of rupees from the institute's accounts for personal legal expenses, payments to relatives, and irregular staffing. "All this has been done while invoking the name of Gopal Krishna Gokhale, the society's revered founder," officials said...