In a major embarrasment for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, faced with a political dissent after resignation of senior party chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh ’Lalan’, his Excise minister Jamshed Ashraf shot off letter hinting a ‘multi-crore rupees scam’ in the excise department.
In September 2009 and again on January 14, when the State cabinet for the first time met on a floating restaurant, Mr. Ashraf handed over letters to Chief Minister seeking his intervention in unearthing a ‘possible big scam.’
Alleging the scam was committed in connivance with officers posted in the CM’s secretariat and the excise department, Mr. Ashraf said it might have resulted in huge revenue loss to the tune of over Rs. 500 crore.
With the contents of the letter somehow making way to the media, Mr. Kumar apparently was in a spot, as the opposition got a shot in the arm trying to sully Mr. Kumar’s image of a ’clean and no-nonsense man’.
Accusing the Chief Minister and his secretariat of trying to cover up the scam, the chief opposition RJD-LJP combine demanded a CBI probe and immediate resignation of Mr. Kumar on moral grounds.
In the letter to Mr. Kumar and Chief Secretary Anup Mukherjee, Mr. Ashraf has sought a probe by the vigilance or the Accountant-General into the ‘scam’ allegedly committed in connivance with officers posted in the CM’s secretariat and the excise department.
Mr. Kumar, on the other hand, maintained that there was nothing to hide and people would come to know about the facts related to it soon.
“There is nothing to hide about it and the people will definitely come to know about it soon”, the Chief Minister said when contacted.
On the charges of cover up, Mr. Kumar said “there is none on the earth who could purchase me...my political career has remained clean and will remain clean.”
Mr. Ashraf in his letter suggested ‘a possible scam’ which related to awarding of contracts for manufacturing and distributing country liquor, sale of molasses to Uttar Pradesh (UP) and fixation of price for Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL) by the State Beverage Corporation.
Last year, Mr. Ashraf had a showdown with former Excise Commissioner N. Vijalakshmi over the allotment of contracts to spirit manufactures. Ms. Vijalakshmi’s husband S. Siddharth is currently Secretary to Chief Minister.
In the letter, Mr. Ashraf, who was unavailable for comment, alleged that some of the ‘blacklisted’ firms were awarded contracts for manufacturing and distributing country liquor last year for three years till 2012 without conforming to rules and guidelines.
He said money exchanged hands in award of contract for distribution of country liquor to a JD-U leader which was done against the norms.
The other allegations pertain to the undermining of minister’s authority with Mr. Ashraf pointing out that he had always been kept in dark on important policy decisions, including the awarding of contract to liquor manufactures and firms supplying spirit to Bihar.
He said the decision to sell molasses to UP at a low rate of Rs. 13 per kg and later, purchasing molasses at a higher price from it was done without his consent. “Even the files for raising the price of IMFL were not shown to me. It is humiliation and reflects the unbridled powers of the bureaucrats in my department,” he said in the letter.
He expressed surprise that the Chief Secretary did not recommend a vigilance probe even after receiving his letter in September 2009.
“None other than the Minister of Excise department has highlighted existence of the scam involving Rs. 500 crore and it is unfortunate that CM and others sat over the minister’s recommendations,” RJD spokesman Shakeel Ahmed Khan said.
“The loot of public money can’t be tolerated... it could not have been possible without the knowledge of the Chief Minister,” Mr. Khan said.
Alleging the involvement of officials in the CM’s secretariat in the scam, Mr. Khan said “It is high time that the Chief Minister comes forward and recommends a CBI probe“.
When contacted LJP supremo Ramvilas Paswan described the minister’s letter as ‘serious’ and said nothing short of a CBI inquiry would prove the guilt of those involved in the ‘loot of public money’.
