Jharkhand DGP cited Bihar to stall probe into funds row

Jharkhand DGP V D Ram had in an earlier letter sought to deflect a probe into the non-adherence of rules related with the...

Jharkhand DGP V D Ram had in an earlier letter sought to deflect a probe into the non-adherence of rules related with the expenditure of Secret Service (SS) fund drawn by him.

Responding to the reply sought by the state government on the Accountant Generals demand for a probe in the matter,Ram had said in a five- page letter written on July 30 (a copy of which is with The Indian Express),In Bihar,the AG had never raised any objection with respect to the drawal under SS fund as is being raised here. This is therefore a clear cut case of violation of the principle of equality before law.

Nonetheless,Chief Secretary A K Basu,before retiring on August 31,had recommended a probe into the alleged misutilisation of the Rs nine crore SS fund by Ram and the Governors Advisor T P Sinha had concurred with the recommendation.

Asked if Governor Sankaranarayanan had received the file bearing their recommendations,his Principal Secretary Sudhir Tripathi said,I have no idea about it. Sources said Sankaranarayanan has been sitting on the file since the past week.

A show cause notice had been served on DGP and ADGP (Special Branch) Rajiv Kumar on the direction of former Governor Syed Sibtey Razi after The Indian Express reported on July 10 that the AGs office wanted the SS fund withdrawals probed for alleged misuse. The fund is meant for informers who provide inputs to the police.

In a June-17 letter to Basu,Deputy AG M Rao Malakar had sought an inquiry,saying that provisions of the Special Branch Manual and Bihar Financial Rules,stipulate that administrative audit of SS funds is carried out and a utilisation certificate furnished to the AG every year. As per AG records,this was not done in case of two withdrawals. In the first case,Rs 5.60 crore was drawn by Ram on March 16,2006 and in the second case,Rs 2.5 crore was drawn by Kumar on March 7,2008. Both withdrawals were made as the fiscal drew to a close,when any unspent amount is supposed to be surrendered to the authorities.