Bihar Bureaucrats Say Won't Obey Verbal Orders Even From Nitish Kumar

Patna: The bureaucrats of Bihar have declared that they will not obey any verbal orders from anyone - including Chief Minister NItish Kumar, unless it is in writing. The declaration came at a meeting of the IAS officers' association, held two days after the arrest of a senior official, Sudhir Kumar -- chairman of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission -- in the question paper leak case. The association has claimed that he had been framed.

A resolution passed by the officers also said they will not accept the post of chairman of any recruitment board and will bear all legal expenses as a mark of solidarity with jailed IAS officer Sudhir Kumar. Until their demands are all met, the officials said they will wear black armbands in protest.

Calling the arrest "unjustifiable", Association secretary Vivek Singh said we want a CBI inquiry as investigation by the state police is far from the truth.

At the meeting, the officers declared unanimously that they have no faith in the investigation done by Bihar Police and demanded a CBI inquiry into the leak of the question papers of the Bihar Staff Selection Service Commission, which took place in June. The police had said Mr Kumar had leaked the question papers to ensure that his relatives got selected in the examination.

Even 48 hours after his arrest, Mr Kumar continues as the chairman of the Commission as the government is yet to remove or suspend him from the post. Mr Kumar, who was arrested from Hazaribagh, is currently in Patna's Phulwarisharif Jail.

After the meeting, the officials marched to Governor Ram Nath Kovind's House and met him. Earlier they also organized a human chain in front of Raj Bhavan in which 80 members participated.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had cancelled the exam for nearly 10,000 clerical government jobs after reports of the leak emerged and handed the investigation to a special team. Nearly three dozen of people were arrested - many of them candidates who had paid between 2 to 5 lakh rupees for the question paper. Mr Kumar's number two in the commission, Parmeshwar Ram, was also among those arrested.