Court summons to SP, wife

By Our Staff Reporter

PATNA, JUNE 28. The Patna High Court today directed the Bihar Chief Secretary to ensure the presence of a Superintendent of Police and his wife in the court on Monday in connection with allegations of misuse of power against them. The two had been evading summons from the High Court for long.

Mrs. Shikha Gupta, wife of the SP, Mr. Anurag Gupta, an IPS officer of the Bihar cadre presently with the Special Protection Group at the Prime Minister's Office, was alleged to have acquired education degrees without appearing in any examination. She is also charged with having `secured' a lecturer's job without the necessary qualifications.

A division bench of the High Court comprising the Chief Justice, Mr. R. S. Dhawan, and Mr. Justice Aftab Alam, decided to direct the Chief Secretary, Mr. V. S. Dubey, to ensure the presence of the SP, and his wife in court and not pass an ex-parte ruling on the matter.The bench was upset that the summons issued on Mr. Gupta's official and residential addresses were ignored and the one sent through the Tis Hazari court was received by a clerk and then ignored.

The court took up the issue on the basis of a PIL filed in 1998. It was alleged that in 1996, Mrs. Shikha Gupta passed the M.A. History from Magadh University, Gaya, in first class and walked away with the gold medal as well, though there was little proof that she had appeared in all the papers.

Things did not end there. The SP got his wife `admitted' into a law college and in less than a couple of years secured for her the job of a guest lecturer despite her lacking the necessary qualifications.When the matter came to the notice of the then Governor, he ordered an inquiry by the Gaya district judge, who said the university authorities did not make available the necessary records to him and maintained that from the available papers it was clear she had appeared in only one paper.

At the directive of the High Court, the Magadh University sent a sealed cover of the original papers relating to the M.A. examination which the division bench opened today. The bench said the original papers and the photo copies made available earlier were totally different.

The court said that in the original sheet only 251 candidates had taken the examination while the photo copy showed 252, the roll number of Mrs. Gupta.

The court said it was strange that a person expected to enforce the law and ensure the presence of examinees at examination centres had himself violated it.

The Advocate-General suggested that the court order a vigilance inquiry. The bench said it would take a decision after giving the couple a last chance.

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