Patna, Dec 7 (IANS): The Patna High Court Friday cancelled the appointment of six vice chancellors (VCs) and four pro-vice chancellors (Pro-VCs) of seven universities in Bihar over alleged illegalities in their appointments.

The court gave the order while hearing a public interest litigation that alleged illegalities in the appointments made by Devanand Konwar, the Bihar governor and chancellor of the universities, without consulting the state government, a government official said.

The official said the court cancelled appointments of Patna University vice chancellor Shambhu Nath Singh, B.R. Ambedkar Bihar University vice chancellor Bimal Kumar, Jay Prakash University vice chancellor Ram Binod Singh, B.N. Mandal University vice chancellor Arun Kumar, Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University vice chancellor Arvind Kumar Pandey and Maulana Majharul Haque Arabic and Persian University vice chancellor Samshu Zoha.

It also cancelled the appointments of pro-vice chancellors of B.N. Mandal University, Patna University, Veer Kuer Singh University and Maulana Majharul Haque Arabic and Persian University.

Earlier, the accountant general indicted Devanand Konwar in his capacity as chancellor of universities for appointments of the six vice chancellors and four pro-vice chancellors without consultations with the government.

The accountant general, in a report, said the governor or his secretariat held no consultations with the government as prescribed under rule 10(2) of the Bihar State University Act, 1976, before going ahead with "irregular" appointment of the six vice chancellors.

Appointment of the six vice chancellors was also not in inconsonance with University Grants Commission Regulations 2010 and provisions incorporated in the respective universities act through amendment as no search committee was constituted nor any panel of the names recommended, the report said.