Konwar

Patna, Dec. 10: The governor in his capacity as chancellor of universities has asked the six vice-chancellors whose appointments were quashed by the high court on Friday to continue in office until further orders, prompting questions about propriety while taking the decision.

The Raj Bhavan order has also asked one of four pro-VCs whose appointments were nixed to stay on.

According to Raj Bhavan sources, Governor Devanand Konwar passed an order in the evening asking the seven functionaries to continue as acting VCs and pro-VC.

“Under section 13 of the Bihar State Universities Act 1976 and under section 13 of Patna University Act 1976 and under section 14 of Nalanda Open University Act 1995 as amended till date, Chancellor is pleased to order erstwhile VCs and Pro VCs acting as in-charge as an interim arrangement and continue to hold the charge and perform the duties,” Raj Bhavan sources said, quoting the order.

The order argues that the decision is aimed at avoiding disruption in the working of the universities.

The high court had held the appointments illegal on the ground that they were carried out without consulting the state government as mandated by the law.

Legal experts said the chancellor’s order went against the “spirit” of the judgement.

“This (the chancellor’s decision) is not correct. The chancellor has got the power to appoint anyone as acting VC or pro VC as an interim measure to run the affairs of the university as the institutions can’t function in a vacuum. But in my view, it would be against the law and rules to appoint those persons whose appointments have been held illegal by the high court. These persons should not have been asked to continue,” additional advocate-general (1) Lalit Kishore, who appeared for the government in the court, told The Telegraph.

Law minister Narendra Narayan Yadav and education minister P.K. Shahi could not be reached for comment.

The VCs who will continue to hold their posts for the time being are Patna University’s Shambhu Nath Singh, BR Ambedkar Bihar University (Muzaffarpur)’s Bimal Kumar, Arvind Kumar Pandey (Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University), Ram Vinod Singh (JP University, Chhapra), Arun Kumar (BN Mandal University, Madhepura) and Mazharul Haque Arabic and Persian University’s Shamsuzzoha. Bimal Kumar and Arun Kumar also hold additional charge of TM Bhagalpur University and Magadh University (Gaya) respectively.

However, only one pro-VC, Kumaresh Prasad Singh of LN Mithila University, Darbhanga, has been asked to continue.

Raj Bhavan and the government have been at loggerheads with each other on the issue of appointment of VCs and pro-VCs for a long time. In spite of an earlier directive of the high court’s single bench asking them to sit together for appointment of these functionaries, Raj Bhavan had, on August 1, 2011, issued a notification regarding appointment of six VCs and four pro-VCs without consulting the state government.

The credentials of many of these appointees have been questioned by academics. Some of them are facing inquiries for alleged irregularities. These appointments were overturned by the court on Friday.