Bihar Governor slams vigilance probe in state varsities, says creating ‘fear on campuses’

Amid the ongoing vigilance probe into alleged corruption in universities in Bihar in which premises of a serving vice chancellor were also searched, Governor Phagu Chouhan, who is the ex officio Chancellor of state universities, has shot off a strongly-worded letter to the state government, accusing it of bypassing the Raj Bhawan and “creating an atmosphere of fear on the campuses”.

Amid the ongoing vigilance probe into alleged corruption in universities in Bihar in which premises of a serving vice chancellor were also searched, Governor Phagu Chouhan, who is the ex officio Chancellor of state universities, has shot off a strongly-worded letter to the state government, accusing it of bypassing the Raj Bhawan and “creating an atmosphere of fear on the campuses”.

Bihar governor Phagu Chauhan (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

The letter comes two months after the Special Vigilance Unit (SVU), which comes under the home department headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar himself, searched the premises of Magadh University vice chancellor Rajendra Prasad in a corruption case, the first such action against a serving vice chancellor in the state.

In a letter to chief secretary Amir Subhani, Governor’s principal secretary Robert L Chongthu has written that the provisions laid down under the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA), 1988, (amended 2018) were not being followed verbatim and that the same had been brought to the notice of the Chancellor, under whose direction he was writing the letter. “It is not only violation of the Act, but also infringement on the autonomy of universities and creating an atmosphere of fear on the campuses to derail normal functioning,” says the letter, which has been seen by HT.

The letter written on Monday, the day when a special Patna court rejected Prasad’s anticipatory bail plea, follows the previous letter the Raj Bhawan had sent on December 30.

The Raj Bhawan has so far not removed Prasad, who had proceeded on medical leave after the raids on his residences in Bodh Gaya and Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh in an alleged ₹30-crore corruption case.

“We will examine the letter,” Subhani said.

“The SVU is directly approaching different universities for documents related to important decisions and financial matters, while the Act stipulates a proper channel has to be followed in such matters for prior sanction from competent authority,” Chongthu has written, adding prior sanction from a competent authority was necessary for the SVU before taking any such action.

Citing the provisions, he has written, “No police officer can conduct any inquiry into any offence alleged to have been committed by a public servant under the Act, where the alleged offence is related to any recommendation made or decision taken by such public servant in discharge of his official functions or duties, without the previous approval”.

“... With respect to universities, Chancellor is the competent authority. Taking action against university officials without prior sanction is not only wrong, but is also unnecessarily creating an atmosphere of fear on the campuses and hampering normal work and academic atmosphere,” he has written.

Senior advocate RK Giri, who is also the counsel for the Raj Bhawan, said the provisions were clear in the amended PCA. “The insertion of Section 17 A (added in 2018) is to protect public servants in the bonafide discharge of official functions or duties. Even for any inquiry, prior sanction has to be taken. There have been court judgments also on this. How can SVU proceed with its decision to carry out searches without prior sanction? Whose sanction did it obtain?,” he said.

SVU had earlier written to several universities, including Tilka Manjhi Bhagalpur University (TMBU), JP University (Chapra) and BRA Bihar University (Muzaffarpur), seeking information on bulk purchases related to examination/ university since January 2019 and other details, including total number of students who appeared in the university exams, total number of OMR sheets and rate per OMR sheet along with copy of agreement with the suppliers/agencies.

The information, the SVU stated, was being sought with reference to the confidential inquiry in the case against MU VC.

Meanwhile, Pataliputra University (Patna) vice chancellor RK Singh was on Monday given additional charge of Magadh University till VC Prasad returns from his medical leave, as per a notification issued by the Raj Bhawan.