Patna: The ruling Janata Dal United (JD-U) in Bihar Thursday suspended its party lawmaker Mewalal Chaudhary a day after the police registered a case against him for the illegal appointment of junior scientists. All these illegal appointments, said to be over 160, were made in the Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur, where the accused served as its vice-chancellor before joining politics.
A decision to suspended Chaudhary from the party was taken by chief minister Nitish Kumar who also happens to be JD-U’s national president. “The accused lawmaker has been suspended from the party after his name figured in the appointment scam. This is in line with the JD-U’s war on corruption,” the party’s chief spokesperson Sanjay Singh told the media Thursday.
The action comes hours after the main opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) sought the immediate expulsion of the accused lawmaker from the JD-U as well as his arrest. “The accused was given the JD-U ticket during the last Assembly polls despite his name figuring in the illegal appointments of junior scientists and assistant professors,” alleged former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi of the BJP.
The lawmaker on other hand feigned innocence and announced that he would move the higher court for justice. “I am the victim of a political conspiracy. I will move the court to seek justice,” the lawmaker told the media Thursday.
The case against the lawmaker was registered on Tuesday evening following orders by the Governor of Bihar who also happens to be the Chancellor of the Universities of the State. Chaudhary is a first-time lawmaker who represents Tarapur seat in the 243-member Bihar Assembly. Police said all the sections imposed on the accused are non-bailable and the charges, if proved, could get him life imprisonment.
The order for his arrest was issued after a probe committee headed by a retired judge of the Patna High Court Justice Mehfooz Alam found the charges against Chaudhary true and recommended legal action against the accused. The Governor had ordered the inquiry in June last year on getting reports of illegal appointments on a large-scale involving huge bribes.
Chaudhary as the vice-chancellor of the Bihar Agricultural University, Bhagalpur is accused of making 161 illegal appointments in the university by allegedly taking a bribe of about Rs1.5 to Rs2 million (around Dh1,098,949) per candidate. It is alleged unqualified candidates were selected whereas those performing well in the interviews were not considered for the job.
Chaudhary had 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 this seat.
