By Our Special Correspondent
Shillong: Two high profile lawyers from two rival political parties who spit fire at each other on television studious every evening will now come converge to defend the absconding Chandra Mohan Jha, self-appointed Chancellor of CMJ University.
Sources told this correspondent that Abhishek Manu Singhvi of Congress and Ravi Shankar Prasad of BJP are both engaged by Jha to fight his case in the Supreme Court. A source close to Jha said he has no dearth of money to engage a battery of the best Supreme Court lawyers whose names sell.
The State Government on its part has engaged Additional Solicitor General of India, Siddharth Luthra to take up the case. Luthra will be assisted by standing counsel for the Meghalaya Government, Ranjan Mukherjee.
The case which is coming up for hearing on August 22 (today) will look at the entire gamut of allegations against Jha and the irregularities in awarding PhDs by the thousands to scholars from across the country and abroad and after violating the norms laid out by the UGC.
The plea for cancelling the anticipatory bail earlier granted by the Supreme Court to CM Jha will also be taken up by the ASG at a later date sources informed.
Meanwhile sources from the Governor’s Secretariat have said that while the agony of the students can we well appreciated, what they should have done is to sue the University to get back their dues and also to get a clear direction from the Court as to where they stand vis-à-vis their degrees.
“Instead of blaming former Governor RS Mooshahary for what has happened to CMJ University today, the students should collectively approach a court of law and demand that their fees be reimbursed, instead of reviling the Governor who only followed due procedure,” the source said.