No Respite For Laloo

IT’S troubled days for Bihar Chief Minister Laloo Yadav. Appearing before the Patna High Court on October 4, CBI Joint Director U.N. Biswas, heading investigations into the multi-crore fodder scam in Bihar, said that the CBI report being presented before the court "was not the one I forwarded to the headquarters for clearance". On the same day, in an unprecedented move, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG), while not actually naming Laloo, indicted the state government for financial misappropriation.

Biswas’ charge that "interference is sought to be made by the CBI at the apex level to influence the probe" threw up a pertinent question: what were the actual recommendations forwarded and was there interference from the CBI later?

According to well-placed sources in the agency, Biswas and his team of investigators, who came mainly from outside the state, had named Laloo as the "main conspirator" in the fodder scam. High on the list of suspects were former chief minister Jagannath Mishra, a clutch of select bureaucrats and some legislators. The basis of the report, according to sources, was the first case investigated completely by the CBI.

The specific case, according to the Biswas report, relates to fraudulent excess withdrawals of Rs 2 crore from the Chaibasa treasury. According to the CBI, former joint regional director S.B. Sinha (the main accused) and regional director R.N. Jha, in conspiracy with district animal husbandry officer B.N. Sharma, prepared fake requisition orders and allotment letters. The order for the non-existent supply was placed in the name of Janata Veterinary, owned by S.B. Sinha’s son Ravi Sinha, and his nephew Ravi Kumar Sinha, owner of Ms Traders.

As early as 1993, the state government had held a high-level meeting where speci-fic charges were levelled against Sharma by finance department officials who pointed out that excess withdrawals to the tune of Rs 100 crore had been made in the Chaibasa treasury and Rs 40 crore from Ranchi. The nine-hour meeting had been presided over by Laloo. CBI investigations reveal that the minutes had not been recorded and no action plan was mooted. Days after Sharma was transferred, Rs 2 lakh was paid to veteran Bihar legislator Rajo Singh to prevail upon Laloo to stay the transfer. A further extension was granted at the behest of S.B. Sinha after he met Jagannath Mishra who, in turn, influenced Laloo.

  Such charges abound and sources indicate that Biswas was all set to chargesheet Laloo by October 30 until agency boss Joginder Singh spoilt his show. A day before the agency was to seek another extension from the Patna High Court, Biswas reportedly met the judges independently and handed them a copy of his investigations. A day later, when the CBI submitted its status report on the scam, the division bench comprising Justices S.N. Jha and S.J. Mukhopadhya wanted to know why the two reports were so different. Laloo’s name did not fig-ure in the second report.

The Janata Dal strongman, meanwhile, was shuttling on a daily basis between Patna and Delhi—of course, denying the charges that these were moves designed to keep the CBI sleuths at bay. "These are all party matters," Laloo told Outlook. "I’ve no axe to grind. Why should I impede the investigations?" he said. But the heat clearly is building against him, particularly after the CBI probe linked him to bulk purchases of air tickets by Indian Airlines employee J.P. Verma, also a fodder supplier.

The bone of contention now seems to be the investigation methodology. Officials say that Biswas, under the directions of the high court, is keen to explore the ‘conspiracy’ angle and book persons under that charge. Other state government investigators want to pursue the matter case by case, which will make prosecution so weak that it will be impossible to nail persons behind the scam.

But there’s hope yet. The CAG, in a special report, severely came down upon the state government: "The finance department (headed by Laloo) was aware about the excess withdrawals in the animal husbandry department at various stages but took no action to investigate the excess withdrawals. Bill passing orders of the finance department issued every month from May 1993 were totally disregarded by the animal husbandry offices and treasury offices in south Bihar. The finance department did not take any action to enforce the compliance of its own instructions." 

This report has been officially handed over to the CBI. Biswas is widely known for his competence and determination. He has declined to take protection from the state police and is said to be under severe pressure in the state. But with equal pressure being mounted in Delhi, will the CBI now gloss over its own findings?