India, Jan. 19 -- PATNA

An accounts officer, who acted as a whistleblower in exposing a Rs.44.5 lakh fraud at Patna's All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), has alleged serious violations of the government's General Financial Rules (GFR) and systemic lapses in the functioning of the institute's finance wing.

In an internal communication dated January 6 to deputy director (administration) Nilotpal Bal, accounts officer Piyush Anand flagged that bank signatories authorised to operate AIIMS-Patna's accounts were allegedly changed on several occasions on verbal instructions of the head of finance and accounts, without any formal office order or written approval by the competent authority.

The letter, accessed by Hindustan Times, ...