In an embarrassment for Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, already facing dissension in the party, Excise Minister Jamshed Ashraf has shot off letters to him hinting at a “multi-crore scam” in the department.
In September 2009 and again on January 14, Ashraf handed over letters to the chief minister seeking his intervention in unearthing a “possible big scam”.
Alleging that the scam was committed in connivance with officers posted in the CM’s secretariat and the Excise Department, Ashraf said it might have resulted in revenue loss to the tune of a whopping over Rs 500 crore.
Ashraf suggested “a possible scam” related to awarding of contracts for manufacturing and distributing country liquor, sale of molasses to Uttar Pradesh and fixation of price for Indian Made Foreign Liquor by the state Beverage Corporation.
With the contents of the letter making way to the media, Kumar is apparently in a spot, as the opposition grabbed the opportunity to try to sully his image of a clean and no-nonsense man, especially an election year.
Accusing the chief minister and his secretariat of trying to “cover up” the scam, the main opposition RJD-LJP combine has demanded a CBI probe and immediate resignation of Kumar on moral grounds.
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The development has come at a time when the ruling party is grappling with a defiant state JD(U) chief Rajiv Ranjan Singh ‘Lalan’ who had quit the post raising the issue of internal democracy in the party.
In the letter to Kumar and Chief Secretary Anup Mukherjee, Ashraf has sought a probe by the Vigilance Department or the Accountant General into the ‘scam’.
Kumar, on the other hand, maintained that there was nothing to hide and people would come to know about the facts related to the matter 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”, Kumar said, “There is none on the earth who could purchase me... My political career has remained clean and will remain clean.”
Last year, Ashraf had a showdown with former Excise Commissioner N Vijalakshmi over the allotment of contracts to spirit manufacturers. Vijalakshmi’s husband S Sidharth is currently Secretary to the Chief Minister.
In the letter, Ashraf, who was unavailable for comment, alleged that some of the “blacklisted” companies 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 Ashraf claiming that he had always been kept in the dark on important policy decisions, including the awarding of contract to liquor manufacturers and firms supplying spirit to Bihar.
Ashraf claimed the decision to sell molasses to UP at a “low” rate of Rs 13 a 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,” the minister 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,” Khan said. Alleging the involvement of officials in the CM’s secretariat in the ‘scam’, 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 a “serious” matter and said nothing short of a CBI inquiry would prove the guilt of those involved in the “loot of public money”.