Hounded by SVU, tainted MU VC finally resigns
PATNA: Months after being accused in a corruption case, tainted Magadh University (MU) vice-chancellor (VC) Rajendra Prasad finally tendered his resignation, which was accepted by governor-cum chancellor of state universities Phagu Chouhan on Saturday, a statement from the Raj Bhawan said.
In a late-night development, Raj Bhawan issued a one-line communique at around 10.40 pm, saying that “the governor has accepted the resignation of MU VC with immediate effect”. It is, however, not known when Prasad submitted his resignation.
Prasad is accused of corruption and cheating the government exchequer to the extent of approximately ₹20 crores during 2019-21 while making “purchases of various items like e-books and OMR answer-sheets for use in university. The MU VC proceeded on medical leave ever since the SVU conducted raids at his office and residence on November 17 last year and has since been evading arrest.
The development comes after the Patna HC rejected the VC’s anticipatory bail plea in an FIR (first information report) lodged by the Bihar Police’s special vigilance unit (SVU). The SVU )on Friday got a non-bailable warrant (NBW) from the special vigilance court in Patna against Prasad and it was widely speculated that he might be arrested. SVU additional director general NH Khan said that his arrest was important, as the money trail had shown the involvement of some shell companies operating from Lucknow and other parts.
According to people aware of the development, due to mounting pressure, following the rejection of his anticipatory bail plea in the high court and after a warrant was issued against him, Prasad, whose three-year term was to end in September, was left with no option, but to resign.
While Prasad has been evading arrest, all the top brass of MU, including Prasad’s personal assistant Subodh Kumar, proctor Jainandan Prasad Singh, library in charge Binod Kumar, and registrar PK Verma have been in jail in connection with a criminal case, leaving one of the biggest Bihar universities in complete turmoil, with sessions getting delayed and students agitating. Even the exams due in 2019 and 2020 have not been completed in MU due to continued instability.
A former VC of Prayagrajbased Rajendra Singh (Rajju Bhaiya) University, he was appointed in September 2019 after a long spell of ad hocism in MU since the former VC Qamar Ahsan was made to quit by the Raj Bhawan and later Pro-VC KN Paswan, who was acting as VC, also resigned. Last month, MU PV, Bibhuti Narayan Singh, who was also acting as VC for a brief period, also resigned.
He is another VC who had to leave mid-way through his controversial tenure due to controversies. Pataliputra University RK Singh is already the acting VC of MU, along with an additional charge to officials from other universities on all the key positions. Right from VC, P-VC, registrar, exam controller, financial advisor, and finance officer are under additional charges of officials from other universities. Some officials who tried to speak up against Prasad’s functioning and cooperated with the SVU probe also got transferred. BJP MP from Aurangabad Sushil Kumar Singh also wrote to the SVU In this regard.