Assam: University founder Mahbubul Hoque gets bail in alleged exam malpractice case

The owner and chancellor of the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya, Mahbubul Hoque, was granted bail by the Gauhati High Court on Monday in one of two cases against him pertaining to alleged malpractices in the Central Board of Secondary Education Class 12 examinations, reported The Indian Express.

Hoque, a Bengali-origin Muslim from Assam’s Karimganj district, will remain in judicial custody in the second case registered against him on February 21. The bail application in the second case is due to be heard on Tuesday, reported India Today North East.

In the past, Hoque has been at the receiving end of several communal jibes from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma.

In August, Sarma said that he was looking into the possibility of restricting students who graduate from the University of Science and Technology Meghalaya from competing for posts in the state government.

This statement came against the backdrop of the chief minister’s claims that the university was responsible for the flash floods in Guwahati on August 5. He alleged that the campus was built by cutting trees and destroying hills in the adjacent Ri Bhoi district, which triggered floods in the city. The chief minister accused the university of waging a “flood jihad”.

The hills of Meghalaya in the Ri Bhoi district slope...

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