Bihar topper scam: We found no class could fit in so many students, says probe head

Read | The college that gave Bihar too many toppers for govt’s comfort

“Our terms of reference focused only on the college’s infrastructure, admission and registration process. We visited the college on February 26, 2016,” Waris told The Indian Express. “The principal showed us a register that showed enrolment of 745 students in science, 340 in humanities and 345 in commerce. We were told that one section has 126 students but when our team inspected the classrooms, we could not find a single room with enough benches to accommodate 126 students. We were shown the physics, chemistry, botany, zoology and geography labs but all lab materials were still packed, as if brought only to show the team,” Waris said.

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When the committee members asked for affiliation papers, the principal, now arrested, allegedly expressed inability to do so because the college was busy with examinations. “We asked him to come to the BSEB office with documents regarding the college’s affiliation and students’ registration on March 5. But he did not turn up citing his mother’s illness,” Waris said. “We gave him a fresh date of March 18 but he called us on March 16, saying he was in Delhi. We gave him a last date of May 2, making it clear the committee would not wait and submit its report based on its findings so far. He did turn up on May 2 but showed old documents, only till 2013.”

Asked about suggestions made by the committee, Waris said: “We only observed that its infrastructure did not support the number of students enrolled and could be good enough for maybe 500-odd students. We also said that for a capacity of 126 students in a class, there has to be a gallery. But our team did not find any.”