Fodder Scam: Will BJP Govt in Jharkhand Ever Act Against Chief Secy Rajbala Verma?

Even as Lalu Prasad Yadav, president of the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), was convicted and sent to five years in prison in the third fodder scam case on January 24, questions about why current Jharkhand Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma is not being brought to book have gathered steam. Verma was Deputy Commissioner (DC) of West Singhbhum from 1990 to 1991 and many have asked how she is going unscathed although she did nothing to prevent alleged withdrawals from district treasuries under her watch. Besides Opposition parties like Congress, JMM and JVM, protesting against Verma’s continued protection, even some BJP leaders of Jharkhand are reported to be unhappy over this.

Lalu Yadav has been accused of embezzling over Rs 970 crore government funds during his tenure as chief minister of undivided Bihar from 1990 to 1997. The veteran politician is already serving a jail term of three-and-half-years in the second case of siphoning of Rs 89 lakh from the Deoghar district treasury between 1990 and 1994. The latest case involves the fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 33.67 crore from the Chaibasa (now in Jharkhand). Allegedly, Verma's signatures were missing from treasury audit reports.

The fodder scam began as early as 1977 when veteran Kailashpati Mishra (BJP) was Bihar’s finance minister. Most of the DCs overlooked the irregularities at respective treasuries. But only a select few have been charged.

The CBI, after taking up the case, served notice on the Verma, a 1983 batch officer, in 2003 but she allegedly did not respond despite over 15 reminders. She has not even replied to several notices served to her by Jharkhand Chief Secretaries between the years 2003 and 2014.

The senior bureaucrat, who is going to demit office in February this year, in her recent explanation letter to the government has claimed that she had no idea of how the money was siphoned from the Chaibasa treasury. She maintains that she did not check the diaries on a daily basis and has alleged that the then treasury officer had kept her in the dark.

The Raghubar Das-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Jharkhand too is apparently trying to protect her by arguing that the chief secretary has nothing to do in the fodder scam case.

But the Opposition parties in Jharkhand are not buying the argument and are unitedly trying hard to corner the government on the issue, repeatedly demanding removal of the chief secretary.

Former Jharkhand Chief Minister and President of the Jharkhand Vikas Morcha Babulal Marandi has levelled serious allegations against her. He has not only demanded a CBI inquiry against Verma but has also alleged that she has conspired against Lalu Prasad Yadav.

“When she says that she has no idea how the withdrawal took place, she perhaps forgets that a DC is the head of treasury. No withdrawal can take place without the signature of the signature of the DC. So, how did she fail to notice as the chief of the treasury such a huge fraud during her tenure there for one and half year? It is not possible. She is telling a lie and the government is trying to shield her,” Marandi told Newsclick.

“How can Laluji be held responsible for the fraud involving such a huge amount of fraudulent withdrawals from treasuries of different districts. He was the chief minister who is not supposed to keep an eye on all transactions. It is the bureaucracy which is assigned this task. I was the chief minister also and I know how the office of a chief minister functions,” he said.

He added that when the RJD chief was first convicted in the first fodder scam case and sent behind bars Verma was shedding “crocodile tears”. “She was crying because she was aware that she will be meeting with a similar fate. And that is why she did not reply to 23 letters sent to her from different governments between the year 2003 to 2014,” the JVM chief alleged.

Congress too is apparently adamant on its demand that the chief secretary be shown the doors and departmental proceedings be initiated against her. “We will keep demanding for her removal from the post of chief secretary. An inquiry into her disproportionate properties should also be initiated against her,” said Ajoy Kumar, President of Jharkhand Pradesh Congress Committee (JPCC) while talking to Newsclick.

Echoing his view, Hemant Soren, leader of the Opposition and the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM), said, “There are examples in past that a chief secretary facing lesser level of charges was removed when the issue was raised in the assembly.”

Lambasting CM Ragubar Das for his claims on zero tolerance of corruption, he said, “The hollowness of the BJP government’s tall claims stands exposed. Rajbala Verma should learn from her colleague Sukhdev Singh. We are going to corner the government on this issue,” he added.

Sukhdev Singh, a senior IAS officer, offered to step down from his post and to be transferred although the state government asked him to continue to hold the post soon after the CBI sought his prosecution even though he was CBI witness. He, in fact, had reported irregularities at Deoghar treasury and also formed an inquiry committee.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Saryu Roy at whose behest the government served a notice to Verma recently said that it was up to the state government and the chief secretary to decide on the next course of action. He is said to be dissatisfied with Verma’s reply to the show cause notice. He has also demanded that a departmental proceeding against her be initiated.

“It is not fair to take action against one and spare the other. It is we (the BJP) who exposed the corruption. Now, it is our responsibility to bring it to a decisive end. The rule of law must prevail,” he opined.

Verdicts in two other cases of the fodder scam (in which Lalu is also an accused) are expected over the next few months. The trial in the next case, involving fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 3.31 crore from Dumka treasury, is in its final stages. In the Doranda Treasury case, the trial is still on.

Lalu Yadav was was first convicted in the first case of fodder scam four years ago and was out on bail after staying in prison for two months in prison. After he was convicted for the second time by a Ranchi court last December, Yadav and his party cried foul, calling it “political vendetta”. At present, the 69-year-old politician is lodged at Ranchi’s Birsa Munda jail. He has applied for bail and the hearing is on.

Yadav’s party – the RJD – walked out of Grand Alliance last year after Chief Minister Nitish Kumar entered a partnership with the BJP to form a National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar.