The elusive Chancellor
of CMJ University, Chandra Mohan Jha, who was arrested yesterday in Bihar, is
being brought to the State capital here today by Meghalaya Police.
“Transit remand has
been granted and CM Jha is being brought here from Bihar today, subject to
availability of ticket,” Director General of Police, Peter JP Hanaman said.
Jha was arrested from
Jhanjharpur in Bihar’s Madhubani district where he has filed his candidature
for the Lok Sabha elections as an Independent candidate. The Chancellor of the
controversial University, named after himself, has been on the run ever since
his bail application was rejected by the Supreme Court.
“We have handed over
CM Jha to Meghalaya police on a transit remand and he has been taken away,” a
senior police official from Madhubani district of Bihar, said.
Jha after issuance of
the arrest warrant eluded the police and was suspected to have fled to Bihar
his home town. However, he did not surface until now when he was campaigning
for the elections in the district.
Jha is wanted in a
case related to allegedly issuing fake PhD degrees from his University, which was
established by the State Government under the CMJ University Act, 2009, to
students around the country and even abroad.
The issue first
surfaced when the then Meghalaya Governor Ranjit Shekhar Mooshahary as the
Visitor of the University in May 20013 found the irregularities in the
functioning of the University. On further probe it was allegedly found that
fake PhD degrees were being issued to students and was functioning as a “degree
mill.”
The Raj Bhavan thereafter filed a criminal
complaint with the police against the University and the Chancellor. The Raj Bhavan
pointed out that the University awarded PhD degrees to 434 students and
enrolled another 490 students in 2012-2013. Many of these students are from
Assam and other northeastern States.
The Governor said the University awarded PhD
degrees even in subjects like Bodo and Punjabi languages “where guides and
faculty are not easily available”. The number of faculty members with PhD
degree as furnished by the University is “inaccurate,” Mooshahary had said.
Mooshahary observed
that the University repeatedly acted in contravention of Section 52 of the CMJ
University Act 2009 in respect of maintenance of standards and other related
matters applicable to private Universities,” and therefore recommended its
dissolution.
The case was handed
over to the CID, which began probe. During the investigations the CID sealed
the University and confiscated computers and as many as 10000 PhD theses from
its campus. Several officials of the University were arrested and arrest
warrant issued against Jha.
Meanwhile, the Supreme
Court in its order has left it on the State Government to decide on the
dissolution of the University, as recommended by Mooshahary. The State
education has been not taken a decision so far and is holding hearing of
students from the University on their degrees, from February this year.
No comments:
Post a Comment