📷 Image: Wikimedia Commons / Varunesh Chandra (Born Sambalpur, Odisha, India)
Local
Saharsa Municipal Commissioner Suspended Over ₹8.44 crore Tender Irregularities
✍️ Amar Ujala · Bihar
🗓 03 Nov 2026, 07:46 PM
👁 13
Bihar’s Saharsa municipal commissioner Prabhat Kumar Jha was suspended after an audit revealed that four development schemes worth ₹8.44 crore were fragmented into 68 parts to evade tender rules, prompting 46 councillors to lock the corporation office.
The Bihar state government has removed Prabhat Kumar Jha, the municipal commissioner of Saharsa Nagar Nigam, from his post pending further inquiry. The decision follows a preliminary audit that flagged serious breaches in the handling of development funds.
The audit uncovered that four separate schemes, collectively amounting to ₹8.44 crore, were artificially divided into 68 individual parcels. This fragmentation was allegedly intended to bypass the statutory tendering process required for public contracts.
In protest of the alleged misconduct, 46 elected councillors sealed the municipal corporation’s office, effectively locking it down until clarifications are provided. Their action underscores growing frustration over perceived corruption at the local administration level.
State authorities have ordered a comprehensive investigation and have instructed the municipal finance department to freeze all pending disbursements related to the questioned schemes. The outcome will determine whether further legal or disciplinary steps will be taken against officials involved.
The audit uncovered that four separate schemes, collectively amounting to ₹8.44 crore, were artificially divided into 68 individual parcels. This fragmentation was allegedly intended to bypass the statutory tendering process required for public contracts.
In protest of the alleged misconduct, 46 elected councillors sealed the municipal corporation’s office, effectively locking it down until clarifications are provided. Their action underscores growing frustration over perceived corruption at the local administration level.
State authorities have ordered a comprehensive investigation and have instructed the municipal finance department to freeze all pending disbursements related to the questioned schemes. The outcome will determine whether further legal or disciplinary steps will be taken against officials involved.