Wednesday, January 22, 2025

PIL in Supreme Court challenges appointment of chairman, Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC)

In a significant development, a PIL in the Supreme Court was filed by Advocate Brajesh Singh on January 21, 2025 challenging the appointment of Parmar Ravi Manubhai as chairman, Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC). Parmar is an accused in the alleged corruption case registered by Bihar's vigilance bureau. The matter is pending before a special judge in Patna. The petitioner alleged that Parmar did not fulfil the basic eligibility criteria for being appointed to the constitutional post of chairperson as he was not a person with an impeccable character. The Times of India has reported about it and the Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission scam.  

Bihar's vigilance investigation bureau had submitted the chargesheet on April 26, 2019 against a serving, two retired IAS officers and five others for alleged involvement in Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission scam in which crores funds meant for upliftment of Mahadalit youth were embezzled. The accused against whom chargesheet was submitted before special vigilance court included S.M. Raju, Ramashish Paswan, Prabhat Kumar, Saurav Basu, Umesh Manjhi, Jaideep Kar and Debjani Kar. Two of the six firms involved in the Mission were Indus Integrated Information Management (IIIM) and  Sriram New Horizon (SNH). Funds allocated under state government’s Dashrath Manjhi Skill Development Scheme and special assistance from Union government.  Mission had come into force in 2010. The scam continued till 2016. FIR was lodged against chargesheeted persons along with IAS officer Parmar Ravi Manubhai and Sharad Kumar Jha on October 23, 2017. Public prosecutor (in-charge) Vijay Sinha, assisted by counsel Anandi Singh had submitted that funds were released the two private firms even without conducting courses or examinations. Union government’s sanction against these bureaucrats has been pending. The chargesheet was filed within a week of Patna High Court’s anger against K.P. Ramaiah over his continuous evading of arrest after rejection of his in 2018. Justice Rakesh Kumar had taken suo motu cognisance of the bail granted to former bureaucrat K.P. Ramaiah in a corruption case. 

In his 20-page order on August 28, 2019, Justice Kumar had asked for a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to inquire into the matter. Justice Kumar himself had denied the officer anticipatory bail in 2018. On August 29, 2029, the Patna High Court had withdrawn all judicial work from Justice Kumar and an 11-judge bench of the High Court comprising of the then Chief Justice A.P. Sahi and Justices Anjana Mishra and Anil Kumar Upadhyay had stayed his order but he was reassigned the cases from September 2, 2019. In his August 28, 2019 order, Justice Kumar had asked as to how the former bureaucrat was granted bail by a lower court when the Supreme Court as well as the High Court had rejected his plea for anticipatory bail because of the seriousness of the allegations. Ramaiah is accused of embezzling over Rs 5 crore during his tenure as the Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission chairperson.  

(Both the Chief Justice Sahi and Justice Kumar were transferred from the Patna High Court. Justice Kumar was transferred to Andhra Pradesh High Court as judge on November 8, 2019 and he retired on December 31, 2020. Justice Sahi was transferred to the Madras High Court in November 10, 2019 from where he demitted office on December 31, 2020. He assumed the charge of President, National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on August 2, 2023. He will retire on August 1, 2027. Justice Kumar joined National Company Law Appellate Tribunal on May 17, 2022 as Member (Judicial), the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT). Justice Kumar resigned from the NCLAT on October 29, 2023 after the Supreme Court issued a contempt notice against him for passing a judgment that went against the Supreme Court's interim order.)

The fate of the Bihar Mahadalit Vikas Mission scam case in the High Court merits scrutiny as well.

(Significantly, in one of the last judgments as Chief Justice of Patna High Court, Request Case No. 104/2023 in Karnataka State Electronics Development Corporation Ltd. vs. The State of Bihar through the Chief Secretary, Bihar (2025), Chief Justice Chandran as the Single Judge Bench passed a judgement on January 10, 2025 which reads: "Hon’ble Mr. Justice Rakesh Kumar, a former Judge of this Court, is appointed as learned Arbitrator to adjudicate all disputes arising out of agreement entered into between the parties to the lis....")

Bihar government had appointed Parmar as chairman, BPSC on March 16, 2024. General Administration Department (GAD) of the Bihar government had issued a notification in this regard. He was due to retire in November 2024. Prior to this he was posted as Additional Chief Secretary, Mines and Geology Department, Bihar government. After the tenure of BPSC chairman Atul Prasad ended on February 12, 2024 the General Administration department had given the charge of chairman of BPSC to Imtiaz Ahmed Karimi, a member of the BPSC.

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