Bihar’s bureaucrats are resenting, though in silence, over the State government’s recent move to amend the Bihar Prison Manual 2012, which is likely to help in the early release of don-turned-politician Anand Mohan Singh from jail. Mr. Anand is serving a life term in Saharsha jail in connection with the murder of former District Magistrate of Gopalganj G. Krishnaiah.
In December 1994, IAS officer Krishnaiah who was on his way to Gopalganj was lynched by an irate mob near Muzaffarpur during the funeral procession of a gangster, Chotan Shukla. Mr. Anand allegedly incited the mob to kill Mr. Krishnaiah.
Mr. Anand currently is on a two-week parole to attend the ring ceremony of his son Chetan Anand. Mr. Chetan is the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA from Sheohar and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s party Janata Dal (United) is part of the ruling alliance with RJD, Congress, and other parties in Bihar. Mr. Kumar had snapped ties with the BJP in August 2022.
The State Home Department (Prison) issued a notification on April 10 stating that “in Bihar Prison Manual 2012, Rule 481(1)(a), the mentioned phrase or, the murder of a public servant on duty’ will be removed”. A copy of the notification was sent to all District Magistrates, Superintendents of Police, jail superintendents, district prosecution officers and Chief Probation Officer of Bihar. The amendment in the Prison Manual is likely to help in the early release of Mr. Anand, who is also a prominent upper-caste Rajput leader of the Kosi region.
The don-turned-politician, who had been an MLA (represented Mahishi from 1990-95) and MP (Sheohar from 1996-1999) was handed a death sentence in the Krishnaiah murder case by a local court in October 2007 but it was commuted to life imprisonment by the Patna High Court in December 2008.
Mr. Anand has been in jail for the last 15 years but has come out on parole thrice in the past six months. Before receiving a parole to attend his son’s ring ceremony, he was also out for 14 days to attend the marriage ceremony of his daughter, which had several heavyweight politicians, including CM Kumar and Deputy CM Tejashwi Yadav of RJD, in attendance.
Bihar’s bureaucrats, meanwhile, are resenting the State’s move but have refused to come forward on record to express their resentment. “What can we say on this except resent in silence? This is a government decision and we have to abide by it”, a senior IAS officer told The Hindu requesting anonymity. “Don’t you think this amendment in prison rule will set a bad precedent?” he asked further.
Like him, other bureaucrats too expressed their indignation on the amendment but preferred to stay anonymous. “We prefer to be anonymous on the issue rather than inviting trouble for us,” said an IAS officer.
Their silence, though, has not gone down well with their fraternity. Former IPS officer Amitabh Kumar Das said, “Mr. Anand’s early release from jail with the help of an amendment in the jail manual will be an insult to a lynched Dalit IAS officer. The State government has made an amendment to help a murderer.” He has also written to the Governor for his “personal intervention in the matter”.
Commenting on the move, political analyst Ajay Kumar said “politics has trumped propriety”. “State bureaucrats may not be expressing their apprehension over the issue but politics has trumped propriety in the State. Who doesn’t know today that the amendment is being done for the early release of a prominent Rajput leader ahead of the upcoming 2024 general election? The bureaucrats know it better than others.”
