Former vice-chancellor of Patna University Shyam Lal. Telegraph picture

Patna, May 16: Former Patna University (PU) vice-chancellor Shyam Lal surprised eve-ryone when he left in a hurry after his retirement in January this year. Had he stayed back, he would not have been very happy with the decisions being taken by the authorities.

A number of decisions taken by Shyam Lal have been overturned. The latest in this series came on Friday, when Patna High Court set aside Lal’s decision to appoint Rajkishore Prasad as the principal of Bihar National College.

Quashing Prasad’s appointment, the single bench of Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathi observed that irregularities were committed in the selection of principal. Prasad’s appointment was challenged in the court by a BN College teacher, Rai Murari, in 2009.

Prasad has been replaced by K.K. Maltiyar, head of department of economics, as the new principal of the college.

Another major reversal of Shyam Lal’s decision was witnessed in April when a directive was issued by the chancellor’s office re-instating dismissed professor, Jyoti Shekhar, to his post.

Shekhar, who teaches in the department of applied economics and commerce, was dismissed by Lal in 2010 on charges of committing irregularities in the admission process of MBA course for the session 2006-08.

Shekhar’s reinstatement left many surprised, as a serious charge of allowing admissions of three students on fake marksheet of Management Aptitude Test (MAT) was levelled against him. Though Shekhar was identified as the main conspirator in the racket, his service was restored, whereas that of Asim Lal Gupta, the MBA course co-ordinator, is yet to be restored.

Another major decision of Lal was reversed during his tenure itself. It pertains to reinstatement of Ranvijay Singh as university professor. Singh had been put under suspension by the former VC on the basis of the allegation that he, while holding the post of Patna College principal, had allowed admission of 147 students in the BBA course tho-ugh there were only 60 seats in the course. Singh was also holding the post of admission in-charge of the course when the admissions were allowed.

The former V-C had also ordered suspension of P.C. Verma, who was holding the post of course coordinator in the same department. While the chancellor’s office, since then, has restored the services of Singh, fate of Verma is still hanging in balance.

The recent developments have made PU teachers question the administrative skills of the person who once held this all-important post.

“A good academic background does not guarantee good administrative skills. Suspension of Asim Lal in MBA admission scam by the then VC is a case in point, as Lal had very little role to play in the whole process,” said Patna University Teachers’ Association general secretary Randhir Kumar Singh.

Sudipto Adhihari, present VC of PU, refused to comment on the decisions. “While the reinstatement of Jyoti Shek-har and Ranvijay Singh were ordered by the office of chancellor, Prasad’s order came from the high court,” he said.