Former Mizoram tourism min gets pre-arrest bail in graft case

Aizawl: Former Mizoram tourism minister and senior Congress leader John Rotluangliana has been granted anticipatory bail by a Special Court (Prevention of Corruption Act) in Aizawl in connection with an Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) probe into the state tourism department’s skywalk and ropeway projects.Special judge F Rohlupuia on Monday allowed the plea, stating, "In the event of the arrest of the petitioner (John Rotluangliana) in connection with the ACB Case no 3/2023, he shall be released on bail upon furnishing a bail bond of Rs. 2,00,000/- with one surety of the like amount, who shall be a permanent resident of Aizawl."The court imposed conditions including cooperation with the trial and a direction not to tamper with evidence.Rotluangliana’s counsel told the court that anticipatory bail had already been granted in the same case to Satish Aparajit, an executive of a construction company, and Biakthanmawia Pautu, former director of the state tourism department.The three have been accused of misappropriation of a huge amount of money. The ACB has filed a charge sheet against them under sections 120B, 406, 409 and 420 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) read with sections 11 and 13(2) read with 13(1)(a)(b) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.The Mizoram skywalk (Sakawrhmuituaitlang) and ropeway (Durtlang-Chaltlang) projects were initiated in 2017 under the Swadesh Darshan scheme and were terminated by the central government in December 2023 amid allegations of corruption, mismanagement and significant "wasteful expenditure".Though the projects were to be completed within 30 months from March 2017, they were abandoned with only about 5% of work completed despite high fund disbursement. The ACB completed its investigation and submitted its charge sheet to the Special Court (PC Act) by early April.A 2023 Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report said Rs 1317.80 lakh was released for the ropeway against a sanctioned amount of Rs. 1241.29 lakh, and flagged substantial payments for a skywalk described as technically infeasible because it passed through power lines.The proposed skywalk and cable car were projected as a major eco-adventure tourism destination for Aizawl, but the project remains stalled and controversial.