The Patna High Court has directed the Bihar education department not to take coercive action against state universities and their officials until further notice. This includes withholding salaries of Vice-Chancellors (VCs) and freezing accounts of the institutions, which the court ordered to be “kept in abeyance”.
Freezing of Bank Accounts
Justice Anjani Kumar Sharan was hearing a batch of petitions filed by various state-run universities challenging the state government’s recent directive to freeze the bank accounts of these institutions and withhold salaries of VCs for non-attendance at a meeting of the education department.
“All the impugned orders whereby salary of university officials have been withheld and all the accounts of universities have been frozen are kept in abeyance until further orders,” stated the court.
The court further declared, “Moreover, in the meantime, no coercive action shall be taken against any party involved. It is also expected that the universities will now settle all retiral dues, release salaries of serving employees, and proceed with examination schedules to maintain and regularize academic sessions, ensuring the interests of the students are safeguarded.”
The next hearing on the matter is scheduled for May 17.
Reconciliation
During arguments, it was suggested that a meeting of all VCs and officials of the education department could take place on May 6 at a neutral venue, Maurya Hotel in Patna, with the state government bearing the meeting expenses. The court considered this a goodwill gesture to resolve disputes amicably.
It was directed that all vice-chancellors, along with registrars, controllers of examination, and financial advisors of respective universities, as well as all officials of the education department including the additional chief secretary, must attend the meeting on May 6 at 11 am at Maurya Hotel, Patna.
“All the aforementioned individuals will participate in the meeting… It is expected that if the chief secretary of Bihar is available on that day, he may preside over the meeting. If not, the meeting will proceed, and all issues will be discussed properly. The entire proceedings of the meeting will be videographed,” noted the bench.
