Dealing a blow to Rajbhavan, Patna high court on Wednesday set aside the appointment of vice chancellors of Magadh University and Veer Kunwar Singh University.

Notifications to this effect was earlier issued by the office of chancellor-cum-governor Devanand Konwar.

Justice Ajay Kumar Tripathy in his order allowed the writ filed by a professor of VKSU Pramod Kumar Singh and others seeking court's intervention for appointment of 'genuine reputed scholars' as vice chancellors.

The petitioners had complained that Arvind Kumar, MU VC, and S K Sinha, VKSU VC, were appointed as vice chancellors by neither considering the rcommendations of the state government nor holding consultations with it, in fragrant violation of the Bihar Universities Act 1976.

''The appointment of the vice chancellors of MU and VKSU are hereby quashed and declared void ab initio'', justice Tripathy said in his order.

''The appointment is set aside since there is sufficient materail to demonstrate that no consultation whatsoever took place between the state government and chancellor before the notification issued from Rajbhavan in the purported exercise of power under section 10 (2) of the Bihar University Act'', the judge ruled.

The high court had on April 18 reserved its order on the petition challenging their appointment.