Twitter
Advertisement

Bihar will comment on Patna high court order soon: Deputy CM

"The state government will make its position on the issue of the alleged irregularities soon", Sushil Kumar Modi said.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Bihar government will clear its position on the alleged irregularities in execution of welfare and development schemes after studying the high court order for CBI probe, deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi today said here.

"The state government will make its position on the issue of the alleged irregularities soon", Modi said, when mediamen approached him for his comments on the order of the court.

"We are yet to study the order of the High Court... Let us go through it", he said.

Patna high court had yesterday ordered a CBI inquiry into the alleged Rs 11,412 crore irregularity in execution of many development schemes, including MNREGA and mid-day meal, from April 1, 2002 and March 31, 2008.

Rabri Devi was chief minister of Bihar between April, 2002 and March 31, 2005, before Nitish Kumar-led NDA came to power on November 24, 2005.

The court had passed the order while hearing a PIL filed by Arvind Kumar Sharma.

Meanwhile, the High Court order has come as a shot in the arm for RJD-LJP and Congress in the state with the opposition seeking chief minister Nitish Kumar's resignation.

Describing it as a "major" scam, eleven times more than the multi-crore rupees fodder scam, LJP president Ramvilas Paswan said Kumar had lost "moral authority" to continue in office.

RJD president Lalu Prasad said the BJP and JD(U) leaders had "falsely implicated" him in the fodder scam.

"They were the petitioners in the fodder scam case, but we are not not a petitioner in the present case that related loot of entire Bihar by Nitish Kumar government", he alleged.

"Though the elections are nearing, constitutional propriety also demands that Kumar should step down immediately to ensure an impartial investigation", Paswan said.

He said the alleged scam had brought the "real face of Kumar for public scrutiny".

"Our doubts about the rampant corruption gripping the state under Nitish have now now turned into a reality", he said.

Paswan said the RJD-LJP combine would continue to highlight the issue before the public and inside the state assembly.

Union minister and Congress leader Sachin Pilot, who is here to participate in a party function, hailed the court's decision and urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to ensure a speedy probe.

"The CBI should start the inquiry without any delay and ensure that those responsible for the loot of public funds concerning the scam are brought to justice", Pilot said.

"In the event of attempts by the state government to influence the probe, it won't be tolerated", he said.

The CBI was a central agency and it should unravel the truths related to the irregularities, he said.

State Congress chief spokesman Premchandra Mishra demanded that both chief minister and deputy chief minister SK Modi should immediately resign on moral grounds.

"The order of the court has badly exposed the so called good governance and clean image of the Chief Minister", he said.

"The high court order has proved that prima facie, there appears to be an evidence to prove the complicity of the Nitish-Modi duo in the irregularities", Mishra added.

The PIL had alleged that during the period Rs 11924.44 crore was withdrawn from government treasuries against 50384 advance contingency (AC) bills for execution of several welfare schemes, but the CAG report revealed that only 3495 detailed contingent (DC) bills worth Rs 511.90 crore had been submitted by 44,000 drawing and disbursal officers across the state and 46880 DC bills worth Rs 11,412.54 crore were pending.

The PIL had also alleged that despite many audit objections between 2002-03 and 2007-08 the pending DC bills had not not been deposited by the DDOs concerned to the accountant general's office.

 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement