Aizawl court reserves order on bail plea of top autonomous district officials

Investigating Officer F Engkunga, an inspector with the ACB, told the court on Tuesday that witnesses appear to be backtracking or have been less enthusiastic about sharing information, saying this is likely because the accused remain at large and continue to hold important offices and are also residents of the same town they live in.

The officer had been summoned by the court after arguments on Monday, during which defence lawyer B Lalramenga had produced an apparent letter by the main complainant saying he wished to withdraw his complaint.

Prosecutors had countered the letter had no weight since the ACB had found through a preliminary enquiry that the accused are indeed complicit and registered a criminal case based on the enquiry.

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The accused’s lawyer, however, cited an apex court ruling that says anticipatory bail should be denied only in extraordinary cases and said these were absent from the present case since the accused are cooperating with the investigating agency.

The accused include the Chief Executive Member or CEM of the Lai Autonomous District Council (LADC) in south Mizoram, the District Education Officer, a high school teacher attached as cashier to the DEO and two teachers who head the main teachers’ body there.

CEM V Zirsanga, a Congress politician, and the other four are accused of illegally amassing about Rs 1.5 crores from the education scam by issuing fake pay certificates for 41 teachers, drawing salaries of some teachers more than once while apparently pocketing the salaries of several others.

They had filed an anticipatory bail plea almost two months ago, about a week after the ACB registered a corruption case against them.