BPSC sends legal notices to politicians, coaching institutes for levelling allegations against it

The BPSC notice asked Jan Suraaj Party's founder Prashant Kishor to provide 'full details of irrefutable and verifiable proofs and evidence' within seven days to support his allegations regarding malpractices in the Integrated 70th CCE.

Patna: The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Saturday said it has issued legal notices to "a number of individuals, including politicians" who have levelled "baseless" allegations against the body on the row over the Combined Competitive Examination (CCE) held on December 13 across the state.

Speaking to PTI, Rajesh Kumar Singh, Examination Controller, BSPC, said, "The commission has sent notices to a number of individuals, including politicians, certain people associated with coaching centres... those who have made baseless allegations against the BPSC... some more notices will be sent shortly."

Although the examination controller did not disclose the names of those to whom notices have been sent, Jan Suraaj Party's vice president Y V Giri confirmed that one of the recipients was party founder Prashant Kishor, who is currently in a hospital due to deterioration in health following his fast-unto-death.

Giri told reporters that the notice appeared to be "misconceived and deserved to be ignored".

The BPSC notice asked Kishor to provide "full details of irrefutable and verifiable proofs and evidence" within seven days to support his allegations regarding malpractices in the Integrated 70th CCE. The notice accused Kishor of making defamatory and baseless statements.

According to the notice, Kishor recently alleged in interviews that "jobs of children were sold for Rs 1 crore to Rs 1.5 crore" and claimed the scandal amounted to "more than Rs 1,000 crore".

Another recipient of the notice was Patna-based tutor and YouTuber, Khan Sir, who voiced anguish over the BPSC action.

"Yes, I have received a legal notice from the BPSC for my speeches in support of the protesting BPSC aspirants. I will soon send my reply after consulting my lawyers. But, one thing I must say that I will keep fighting for the cause of students," he told PTI.

"We are also preparing to approach the Patna High Court over the issue pertaining to the alleged irregularities in the examination conducted on December 13," he added.

The police have also registered a fresh FIR against a Patna-based coaching institute, linked to Khan Sir, for allegedly spreading misinformation related to the BPSC exam.

Sources in the BPSC confirmed that notices have been sent to several other individuals and owners of Patna-based coaching institutes in this regard.

Meanwhile, Independent MP from Purnea, Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav, has called for a Bihar bandh on January 12 in support of the students seeking cancellation of BPSC's December 13 exam.

Varun Choudhary, national president of Congress's student wing National Students' Union of India (NSUI), along with his supporters, on Saturday visited Gardani Bagh, where the protesting BPSC aspirants have been staging a dharna for the last three weeks seeking cancellation of the December 13 exam.

He also observed 'maun-vrat' in support of students for some time at the protest site.

Meanwhile, the protesting students organised a press conference, thanking everyone from Tejashwi Yadav, Pappu Yadav and Prashant Kishor for extending support to their struggle.

"Despite their mutual disagreement, they supported our struggle. We are, however, still awaiting a response from Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, who must break his silence. If he says that cancellation of the exam is out of question, then we will have to chalk out a strategy accordingly," the students said.

The CCE conducted by the BPSC on December 13 has been in the eye of a storm over allegations of question paper leak. Even as the government dismissed the allegation, a fresh test was ordered for more than 12,000 candidates who had appeared in the exam at a centre in Patna.