The legal brains of the JD(U) and BJP in Bihar are preparing their defence after the Patna high court ordered a CBI probe into the alleged irregular withdrawal of Rs 11,412.54 crores from the state treasury between 2002-03 and 2007-08 for different welfare and development schemes without submitting the required bills to the accountant-general of Bihar.
The Opposition parties in the state have already started demanding the resignation of the CM on the issue. A senior BJP functionary said “the order coming at this juncture is not good for the image of the coalition government”.
A section of JD(U) leaders, however, feet that despite the development and welfare works, “some ministers were getting greedy”. For them, this was “inevitable”. The Nitish Kumar-led government is also being accused of rubbing shoulders with criminal elements and going soft on Maoists. With the top JD(U) and BJP leaders in disarray, a section once again mounted pressure on the saffron high command to snap ties with the JD(U) and contest the Bihar polls alone. Some so-called “reserved players”, like local MP Shatrughan Sinha, are being recalled for their advice.
On Thursday, a division bench comprising Chief Justice Rekha Manharlal Doshit and Justice S.K Katriar passed the order on a PIL filed by a lawyer, Arvind Kumar Sharma. The petitioner’s counsel, Dinu Kumar, alleged financial illegalities under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme, Indira Awas Yojna and other schemes. The court observed it was prima facie evident that the government did not take the matter seriously despite similar issues being raised in other writ petitions which were forwarded by the court to the government for taking corrective action.
In a crucial observation, the court added that “there is no material on record to show the names and other particulars of the beneficiaries of the schemes in question”. What could be more damaging to the state government was the court’s observation that a “local investigating agency would not be able to handle an investigation into irregularities of such enormous magnitude for various reasons, including local affiliations and pressures.”
It was reported that the court took notice of the submissions made on behalf of the accountant-general, Bihar, that under the provision of the Bihar Financial Rules, detailed contingent bills must be sent through the Treasury to the accountant-general within a stipulated period in cases of such withdrawals. However, drawing and disbursing officers and controlling officers violated this rule and detail contingent bills amounting to Rs 11,412.54 crores remained pending for long. “This despite the fact that the accounts examiner kept apprising the government of this lapse,” the court observed.