Chauhan’s action is just a reaction

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan certainly has his plates full, what with Uma Bharti’s supporters breathing down his neck and a Lokayukta ready to leap at
incriminated officials, reports ND Sharma

It took almost two months since he was sworn-in as the chief minister of Madhya Pradesh on November 29 for Shivraj Singh Chauhan to take his first major decision. On January 28, Chauhan took action against chief secretary Vijay Singh, principal secretary Abha Asthana and Deputy Secretary Subhah Daphane for allegedly helping a scam-accused Indian Administrative Service officer. Nonetheless, he missed the opportunity to project himself as a bold, decisive, capable leader. Instead, kudos for his decision were claimed by top Uma Bharti aide Prahlad Patel, who had warned the chief minister of an indefinite hunger strike from January 31 if the chief secretary was not removed.

In his missive against the chief minister, Patel had also alleged that Chauhan was complicit in ensuring a clean chit to SR Mohanty, currently secretary, department of child and woman
development for his role in the inter-corporate deposit scam that had rocked the Madhya Pradesh Industries Development Corporation. Mohanty, considered to be former chief minister Digvijay Singh’s blue-eyed boy, had been facing flak after the Congress lost to the Bharatiya Janata Party in the 2003 Assembly elections.

The BJP government had charged Mohanty and his predecessor, MP Rajan, of distributing nearly Rs 663 crore as inter-corporate deposits to select industrial houses—in some cases without applications from the beneficiaries. This money had been raised by the MPSIDC in violation of norms, as the state government had taken a decision in January 1994 that the corporation would not undertake any financial operations. It was discovered that the beneficiary companies were chosen arbitrarily, without project reports in most cases, and no consideration taken regarding the credit-worthiness or solvency of the parties.

When it came to power, the BJP-led government had entrusted the matter to the economic offences wing. However, Rajan had by then retired and Mohanty had been made controller of the Government Press, considered to be a loop-line in the IAS hierarchy. However, Vijay Singh, who Uma Bharti had recalled from his deputation at the Centre and made chief secretary, slowly took Mohanty off the loop and rehabilitated him even as the EOW investigation was on.

Advocate-general Ravinandan Singh, whose opinion the government had sought before handing over the matter to the EOW, had said that the manner in which the ICDs were released appeared to be an “act of conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating”.

But after Mohanty moved the Madhya Pradesh high court seeking to quash the FIR against him, the state government’s general administration department submitted an affidavit stating that Mohanty had not committed any financial irregularities. It also denied that the EOW had been asked to investigate the matter. Following this affidavit, the High Court quashed the cases against Mohanty.

An embarassed Chauhan has now announced that his government would move the Supreme Court against the high court order clearing Mohanty—that is, against the government’s own decision to ensure Mohanty a clean chit.

The task before Chauhan is formidable. First, some senior party leaders are said to be helping Mohanty. Second, it wasn’t only the government that submitted to the high court an affidavit favouring Mohanty, even the advocate-general (who had seen the ICDs issue as a clear case of conspiracy and cheating) was ‘persuaded’ to entrust the case to a deputy. Third, Uma Bharti and her supporters are breathing down his neck. Fourth, the state Lokayukta is waiting for government sanction to prosecute several senior officials against whom investigations have been completed. All in all, a right, royal headache.