V-C in firing line sends defamation notice to complainant, trashes charges

V-C Singh, who headed the search committee that around three months ago recommended Qudus’s name for the top academic post, said defamatory allegations against him, especially on the eve of the function where he was presented the best V-C award by the Chancellor, looked “shocking and motivated”.

The man in the firing line amid the controversies surrounding the higher education institutions of Bihar, Lalit Narayan Mithila University vice-chancellor (V-C) SP Singh has hit back, serving a ₹5.10-crore defamation notice to Maulana Mazharul Haq Arabic and Persian University (MMHAPU) V-C Prof Md Qudus, who had alleged serious financial irregularities by his predecessor (Singh) in a letter to chief minister Nitish Kumar last month.

Lalit Narayan Mithila University vice-chancellor (V-C) SP Singh has accused Md Qudus of levelling “defamatory and false allegations against him, which has caused him mental torture and loss of reputation”. (ANI/Representative use)

Singh has accused Qudus of levelling “defamatory and false allegations against him, which has caused him mental torture and loss of reputation”.

Singh, who headed the search committee that around three months ago recommended Qudus’s name for the top academic post, said that when everything had been done by the tender committee, which is a statutory regulating body, and payment to the firm has also been made by present MMHAPU V-C, defamatory allegations against him, especially on the eve of the function where he was presented the best V-C award by the Chancellor, looked “shocking and motivated”.

Qudus also had to face another rebuke from the MMHAPU syndicate, the highest statutory body, earlier this week, when it approved the payment to all the university staff, including those outsourced, like before and termed their appointment as per rules. The inquiry ordered by him also could not start as three of the five members of the inquiry committee refused to be part of it. The V-C had alleged irregularities in the outsourcing of staff also in his letter.

Qudus, on the other hand, said he would reply to the notice. “In a democracy, everyone has a right to defend himself and speak up. I felt wrong, and so I raised the issues. I have not made full payment to the firm. Against the supply of 1.60-lakh answer books, the university had to pay ₹28 lakh. I have stopped the ₹6-lakh payment, as the GSM (grams per square meter) had not been decided. As far as the syndicate decision is concerned, I have the power under the Bihar State Universities Act to accept the recommendation or not. The syndicate has indeed approved payment to the staff as before. I will refer the matter to the Chancellor office or the education department for their guidance,” he added.

Singh said that there was a laid down procedure for everything, and the V-C could not take any decision by his whims and fancies. “I welcome the government’s move to go in for performance audit of all the state universities. I had raised the issue of performance and financial auditing in universities at the very beginning, as there is a lot that needs to be set right. Even the employees’ basic details and origin are not properly available, and no automated updating is done. I have had an unblemished track record spanning over four decades. The college where I was the principal, National PG College (Lucknow), is among the top colleges at the national level. What I have done at Bihar universities is for all to see, though a lot more is needed,” he said, adding “Pataliputra University during his temporary charge was the only university in the state that could conduct pre-Ph.D registration test in the last five years and LNMU successfully conducted the combined B.Ed entrance test, but those who work often end up facing obstacles.”

The LNMU V-C said that he had been given temporary charge of three universities and made the head of the search committee by the Raj Bhawan. “Not only Qudus, but all the V-Cs appointed by the search committee headed by me are also from Bihar, contrary to the perception being developed that all the V-Cs are from UP. I work with no baggage. I have no axe to grind. Qudus wrote against me while he cleared the payment for the company that supplied answer books. Negotiations were also done with the company. If the order was wrong, he should have cancelled the tender and invited a fresh one. He also took overcharge in my absence as I was in Lucknow those days. There was no formal handing over of charge, while he said his joining was delayed with an ulterior motive,” he added.

Maintaining that the V-C is not involved with the tendering process, Singh said that he had, however, issued a resolution that the quantity of the answer books to be purchased should not be more than 10% of the requirement and if there was any delay in issuing the fresh tender, old, established process should be adopted. “Exams cannot wait and therefore 10% extra copies should be normally there to be ready for any eventuality, viz. exam cancellation, destruction or any other reason. I don’t even know the company that has supplied answer books. If Md Qudus had reasons to believe that there was anything wrong with the process adopted or quality, he should not have allowed payment and simply ordered fresh tender,” he added.

Despite all the heat generated over him, Singh remains the V-C of LNMU and continues to hold the additional charge of Aryabhat Knowledge University and Pataliputra University. In Pataliputra University, a new V-C, RK Singh from Bipin Tripathi Kumaon Institute of Technology (Uttarakhand), was appointed on November 24 but is yet to take charge even after a fortnight. “What is the hurry? I will take charge after completing some formalities, and once I do, it will be known,” he said.