Patna: A university in Bihar has indefinitely postponed law examinations to stop students from cheating or using unfair means, officials said on Sunday.

Magadh University ordered postponement of all law examinations till further notice after hundreds of law students in Bihar boycotted their exams and went on a rampage on Friday and Saturday, as they were not allowed to carry books and mobile phones inside examination centres.

"We have decided not to allow use of unfair means in examinations, there is no place for any kind of cheating, the university has postponed examination," B.N. Pandey, vice chancellor of the university based at Bodh Gaya, about 110 km from here, told IANS by phone.

Pandey said the university was committed to implement strict measures for free and fair examinations. "We will not bow before rampaging students, demanding right to cheat," he said.

Students appearing for LLB part III examinations at Jagjivan Ram College in Gaya, TPS College in Patna and Sher Shah College in Sasaram had boycotted their exams.

"Over 2,000 law examinees, including 1600 at TPS college in Patna, boycotted examination, staged protests, demanded leniency in the conduct of examination and shouted slogans against university administration for adopting stern measures," official sources in higher education department said.

According to officials of university, protests followed deployment of police contingents at the examination centres in Gaya and Patna, where the students were not allowed to carry books, exercise books and mobile phones into the exam hall.

Bihar Education Minister Brishen Patel also said that the government would not allow the students to cheat in the exams.

"It is a firm decision of the state government not to allow unfair means in examinations," Patel said.

Students said not a single class had been held during the whole year.

In Sasaram, law students of Kuer Singh University at Sher Shah College, examination centre boycotted the exam for the second consecutive day on Saturday.

Students there turned violent Friday and some shots were also allegedly fired in the air by the mob to terrorise the college staff. Later, the angry mob set ablaze office and some classrooms of the college.

In Bihar, cheating in examination is rampant and any action to stop it has often led to violent protests. IANS

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