A delegation of the Bihar IAS Officers’ Association met Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Choudhary on Monday and demanded immediate withdrawal of the case against the state’s Staff Selection Commission chief Sudhir Kumar, who has been arrested for an exam paper leak. Kumar, an IAS officer, had served as home secretary under Jitan Ram Manjhi. While some officers said the arrest could not have happened without the knowledge of Nitish Kumar, the Bihar Chief Minister refused to speak about the scam or the arrests. Nitish, speaking informally to reporters in his chamber in the Vidhan Sabha, said: “I came to know about the IAS officer’s arrest from media.” Sources said the government was mulling handing over the case to the CBI to “mollify” the IAS officers, who have demanded such a step. Yesterday, the association had met the Bihar Governor with the same demand. The association members reported for work on Monday wearing black badges and wrist bands. “It would be puerile to assume that a senior IAS officer of Sudhir Kumar’s standing was arrested without the knowledge of the CM. It is not about the arrest but the manner in which Sudhir Kumar was arrested. It has dented morale of the cadre,” said an IAS officer. Kumar and five of his relatives were arrested on February 24 in Hazaribagh where the officer had gone on leave.
