Patna: The high court has directed the state government to take steps for the appointmentment of a regular chairman of the Bihar School Examination Board.

Patna divisional commissioner Anand Kishor has been heading the board since its former chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh was arrested over the topper scam two years ago.

The Patna High Court, in a recent order passed by a division bench of Chief Justice Rajendra Menon and Justice Rajeev Ranjan Prasad, has asked the government to select a competent chairman within a reasonable time frame.

The order came on a writ petition filed by a man called Shiv Prakash Rai, who had challenged the appointment of Kishor as board chairman.

Dinu Kumar, advocate for the petitioner, argued that the state government was relying on an ad-hoc arrangement for which there is no justification.

The advocate argued that the non-appointment of a regular chairman is illegal and an arbitrary act of the state government.

The government counsel argued that the board was in disarray and Kishor was given charge to look into the administration of the board in additional to his administrative capicity as commissioner.

During his tenure as chairman, Kishor has cancelled the affiliation of 203 educational institutions.