Patna (PTI): The historic Wheeler Senate House of the Patna University has been renamed 'Jayaprakash Narayan Anushad Bhawan' after socialist leader Jayaprakash Narayan.

The 97-year-old senate house shed its British-era name days before Patna University (PU) completed 106 years. Located between the banks of the Ganga and the old Ashok Rajpath, the university was established on October 1, 1917.

A ceremony to mark the 106th anniversary of the university was held at the capacious senate hall on Sunday, during which gold medals were presented to various department toppers.

The charming senate house with Doric columns framing its entrance was inaugurated on March 20, 1926 by the then governor of Bihar and Orissa province and Patna University chancellor Sir Henry Wheeler.

It was built using a generous endowment from Raja Devakinandan Prashad Singh of Monghyr (now Munger in Bihar). Sir Henry Wheeler had laid its foundation stone in 1925, according to archival records.

This iconic landmark in Patna has been a venue for many historic events since its opening.

The old senate house has hosted innumerable convocation ceremonies of PU, senate meetings, opening session of the Indian Science Congress in 1933 and several annual general meetings of the Bihar and Orissa Research Society (later Bihar Research Society) in the 1920s and 1930s, among other key events.

Traditionally, PU Foundation Day ceremonies have been hosted at this venue.

Days before the 106th anniversary of the university, a new plaque was installed on the right side of the senate house's facade stating that it has been renamed after Jayaprakash Narayan, popularly known as 'JP', a Patna University official said.

As guests streamed in on Sunday and walked through the hallowed portals of the refurbished senate house, not many noticed the new plaque.

The plaque, with the university emblem at the top, reads: "Patna University - on September 13, 2023, after approval by Bihar Governor-cum-Chancellor Shri Rajendra Vishwanath Arlekar, Wheeler Senate House has been renamed 'Jayaprakash Narayan Anushad Bhawan'...".

The senate house building has been refurbished. A sum of Rs 2.84 crore was sanctioned for this earlier, officials said.

Bihar Governor Rajendra Arlekar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had on September 5 unveiled a plaque embedded on the left side of the facade of the senate house to commemorate the reopening of the renovated hall.

In his address on the occasion, Arlekar had suggested renaming the Wheeler Senate House, saying it was a colonial-era name.

Speaking about Rabindranath Tagore's visit to the Wheeler Senate House in March 1936, the governor had suggested that the hall could be named after the Nobel laureate.

"There is a need to think over it. (Patna) University people should definitely consider this. I am ready for this," he had said.

Days later, "emergency meetings" of the university's Academic Council and the Syndicate were convened and a "proposal to rename" the Wheeler Senate House was cleared. The proposal was then sent to the governor, who is also the university's chancellor, for approval, sources said.

The renaming of the iconic landmark, however, was not welcomed by all.

Patna University alumnus Shanker Dutt said it is "disappointing" that the identity of a historic place like Wheeler Senate House has been "altered".

"What renaming does, more so of a public building like Wheeler Senate House, is that it takes away the point of reference in history when seen retrospectively. The building has hosted a plethora of historic events during its journey and proceedings, documents and photographs associated with it will describe the venue as Wheeler Senate House," he said.

"So, would we now say that Tagore visited the 'JP Senate House' in 1936," asked Dutt, who also taught for several decades at the university.

Many other scholars, including a former vice-chancellor of Patna University who did not wish to be named, said the renaming was "not needed" and would "create confusion" among people.

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New Delhi, Nov 14: Coming down heavily on the Chhattisgarh government for removing an elected woman sarpanch of a remote village for "unjustified reasons," the Supreme Court on Monday observed the state wanted the village head to go with a "begging bowl before a babu (bureaucrat)".

A bench of Justice Surya Kant and Justice Ujjal Bhuyan imposed a cost of Rs 1 lakh on the state government to be released in four weeks to Sonam Lakra, the woman sarpanch of a village in Jashpur district, for the mental harassment she suffered.

"This is a case of high-handedness on the part of the authorities in removing an elected sarpanch, a young woman who thought of serving her village in a remote area of Chhattisgarh.

"Instead of admiring her commitments or cooperating with her or extending a helping hand in her endeavour for the development of her village, she was wronged for absolutely uncalled for and unjustified reasons," the bench said.

The top court termed the initiation of proceedings as a "lame excuse" for removing her from the post of sarpanch over a delay in the supply of construction materials and completion of construction work.

"Construction works involve engineers, contractors and timely supply of material besides vagaries of weather and therefore, how can a sarpanch be held responsible for the delay in construction works, unless it is found that there was a delay in allocation of work or performance of a specific duty assigned to her."

"We are satisfied that initiation of proceedings was a lame excuse and the appellant was removed from the office of Sarpanch on the false pretext," the top court said in its order.

While quashing the removal order passed by the sub-divisional officer (revenue), the bench reinstated her to the post of sarpanch till the completion of her term.

"Since the appellant has been harassed and subjected to avoidable litigation, we award the cost of Rs 1 lakh to her which shall be paid within four weeks by the state of Chhattisgarh," the bench said.

It said the state is at liberty to collect the amount from the officers responsible for causing her harassment.

The top court also directed the chief secretary of the state to hold an inquiry and find out the officers/officials responsible for the harassment of the elected representative.

During the hearing of the matter, the top court warned the counsel for the state government for repetitive disruptions saying, "Don't force us to say something harsh."

The counsel submitted that the sarpanch had a remedy available to her and she could appeal against the order of removal before the collector.

"That is what you want. You (state) want a sarpanch to go with a begging bowl before the babu... who in some cases may have been promoted from the post of clerk," the bench observed.

It said the sub-divisional officer (revenue), who passed the arbitrary removal order, seemingly lacked the technical knowledge about how much time construction work takes.

On April 5, the top court, while issuing notice on the plea of Lakra challenging the February 29 order of the high court dismissing her petition against the removal order, directed for a stay on the direction removing her from the post of Sarpanch.

"Meanwhile, the operation of the impugned orders passed by the sub-divisional officer (revenue), Pharsabahar, district Jashpur, Chhattisgarh, removing the petitioner from the post of sarpanch, gram panchayat Sajbahar, as well as that of the high court, shall remain stayed.

"Resultantly, the petitioner shall be reinstated as the sarpanch of the gram panchayat and shall be allowed to perform her duties without any hindrance," the bench had ordered.

Lakra was elected as sarpanch of Sajbahar Panchayat in Jashpur district of the state in January 2020. Some complaints were received with regard to irregularity in the completion of the construction work.

On May 26, 2023, the sub-divisional officer (revenue) registered the case and issued a show-cause notice to her.

Lakra (27) filed a reply stating that the work was sanctioned vide order dated December 16, 2022, under the Rural Industrial Park (RIPA), but she received it from the secretary of the gram panchayat on March 21, 2023.

Therefore, it was not possible to complete the work in such a short span of time, she had said.

It was stated that during the pendency of the enquiry, the work was completed and the oral intimation was given to the authority concerned. However, on January 18, she was removed from the office of sarpanch on the charge that she could not complete the work.