Lawmaker implicated in Bihar job scam

Alawmaker from Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s ruling Janata Dal United (JD-U) party has landed in trouble after the police registered a case of fraud and cheating and being involved in the illegal appointment of professors and junior scientists against him. The man in question, Mewalal Chaudhary, represents Tarapur assembly seat in Bihar assembly.

The case was registered on Tuesday evening with the local police station following orders by the Governor of Bihar, Ram Nath Kovind, who also happens to be the Chancellor of the Universities of the State. Police said all the sections the accused is charged with are non-bailable and if his guilt is proven, he faces life in prison.

The order for his arrest, issued after the probe committee, headed by retired judge of the Patna High Court Justice Mehfooz Alam, found the charges true against Chaudhary and recommended legal action be taken against him. The Governor had ordered the inquiry in June last year after getting reports of illegal appointments in exchange for money.

Chaudhary, who served as the vice-chancellor of Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur before getting elected as a lawmaker, is accused of making 161 illegal appointments in his university by allegedly taking about Rs1.5 to Rs2 million (Dh82,269 to Dh109,693) from each appointed candidate. It is alleged the incompetent candidates were selected because of the money and those who performed well in the interviews weren’t considered for the job.

Chaudhary joined politics after his retirement from service and contested the last assembly elections from Tarapur seat in Munger district. Before Chaudhary, his wife, Neeta Chaudhary, had represented the seat.

The opposition Bharatiya Janata Party has sought the immediate arrest of the lawmaker.